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E2. 

A    PLAIN 

I  ANALYSIS  OF  SOCIALISM 


BY 

L.   K   EGCLES 

A<    hor  of   "The  1     impct  \'oice  From  the  Throne."     (Vol.  II) 


PUBi.i   1  BY    THE    AUTHOR 

PULLMAN,  WASH. 


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IN   MEMORIAM 


JESSICA  PEIXOTTO 
1864-1941 


VOL.    I 


A    PLAIN 

ANALYSIS  OF  SOCIALISM 


BY 


L.   F.   ECCLES 

Author  of   "The  Trumpet  Voice  From  the  Throne."     (Vol.  II) 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR 
PULLMAN,  WASH. 


PRICE  25    CENTS 

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Copyright.   1907,    by    L.  F.  ECCLES 


THE   CO-OPERATIVE    PRESS,    15  SPRUCE  ST..    NEW  YORK 

119 


Preface 

My  Dear  Reader:  You  who  are  busy,  whose  energies 
have  been  taxed  heavily  by  much  work,  manual  or  mental, 
and  perhaps  more  heavily  by  that  interminable  worry  that 
arises  from  a  feeling  of  uncertainty;  or  you  who  for  want  of 
opportunity,  inclination  or  any  other  cause,  have  not  become 
familiar  with  the  history  of  the  past  nor  studied  carefully  the 
philosophy  of  human  events,  it  is  for  you  especially  that  these 
pages  are  intended  and  to  you  that  they  are  addressed. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  work  is  not  intended  as  a 
great  literary  production ;  for  its  perusal  will  easily  disclose  to 
a  critic  the  fact  that  it  is  not.  And  if  the  style  should  seem 
abrupt  or  coarse  to  those  of  refined  literary  taste,  I  trust  that 
they  will  bear  with  and  excuse  it ;  for,  above  all  things,  I 
desire  to  be  thoroughly  understood  by  all.  To  this  end  there 
are  two  things  necessary :  First,  that  I  write  plainly ;  and 
secondly,  that  you  read  carefully.  How  well  I  have  done  my 
part  you  may  judge.  Will  you  do  your  part?  And,  if,  from 
any  cause  you  fail  to  get  the  full  meaning,  will  you  do  yourself 
and  me  the  justice  to  re-read  carefully?  A  certain  order  has 
been  pursued,  so  that  a  thorough  understanding  of  any  por- 
tion depends  largely  on  a  knowledge  of  what  has  gone  before. 
I  have  not  hesitated  to  use  the  pronouns  "I"  or  "me,"  as  the 
case  may  be,  and,  to  relieve  the  monotony,  have  frequently 
called  in  the  editorial  "we." 

Every  trade  has  its  shop  talk,  which  is  easily  understood 
by  all  those  of  that  trade,  but  Greek  to  those  without.  Liter- 
ary men  have  theirs.  I  have  been  careful  to  avoid  indulging" 
in  the  use  of  literary  shop  talk. 

My  purpose  in  the  present  work  is  to  present  a  brief, 
plain,  simple  yet  full,  comprehensive  and  philosophical  view 
of  the  whole  subject  in  its  essential  features.  While  I  desire 
to  be  brief,  I  do  not  wish  to  sacrifice  clearness  for  brevity,  and 
so,  in  dealing  with  topics  that  seemed  important,  I  have  not 
hesitated  to  introduce  elaborate  illustration. 

If  I  have  given  a  greater  prominence  to  the  moral  phase 
of  the  subject  than  most  Socialist  writers,  I  have  no  apologies 
to  make,  for  I  believe  that  notwithstanding  the  tendency  of 
capitalism  to  uproot,  obliterate  and  destroy  it.  man  still  has  a 
conscience,  to  which  the  message  of  Socialism,  if  properly 
presented,  will  appeal.  I  have  quoted  freely  from  other 
authors  wherever  I  found  it  convenient,  because  my  object  is 

M151389 


4  PREFACE 

not  so  much  to  bring  forth  that  which  is  new  as  to  present  a 
complete  case  that  cannot  be  upset. 

I  hope  this  work  may  not  prove  unworthy  the  consider- 
ation of  the  learned;  but  my  one  fixed  and  settled  purpose 
has  been  to  present  to  the  great  plain  people,  of  whom  I  am 
one,  a  book  which,  when  one  has  read,  he  will  be  ready  to 
say,  "I  am  a  socialist."  Or,  if  he  is  a  conservative,  doubting 
Thomas,  will  at  least  comprehend  the  Socialist  idea  so  thor- 
oughly, that  if  he  is  still  hesitating  and  doubting  when  the 
majority  vote  to  inaugurate  the  Socialistic  state,  he  will  be 
ready  to  exclaim,  "My  shoulder  to  the  wheel !  I  voted  against 
Socialism  because  I  feared  to  try  the  experiment;  but  it  is 
right  in  principle,  and  now,  since  it  is  to  be  tried,  I  desire  to 
see  it  succeed;  I  have  as  much  interest  in  its  success  as  any 
one;  and  if  it  should  fail  I  am  determined  that  it  shall  be 
through  no  faul-t  of  mine." 

When  you  get  the  Socialist  idea  in  all  its  fullness,  there 
will  come  with  it  the  Socialist  ideal  in  all  its  beauty  and  at- 
tractiveness. You  may  cast  it  from  you  as  chimerical,  vis- 
ionary and  too  good  to  think  of;  you  may  trample  it  under 
your  feet ;  but  it  will  rise  and  climb,  and  keep  climbing  till  it 
sits  enthroned,  the  ruling  impulse  of  your  life.  I  have  almost 
entirely  avoided  statistics.  Books  of  these  are  easily  obtained 
by  those  who  desire  to  consult  them.  My  object  is  not  so 
much  to  tell  the  reader  something  he  does  not  already  know, 
as  to  reason  with  him  upon  information  that  he  already  has,  or 
may  easily  obtain.  This  is  intended  to  be  a  book  of  reasons 
rather  than  a  book  of  facts. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


IMPORTANT 

Unless  specially  arranged  otherwise,   all  orders  for  books  should  be 
sent  to 

L.  F.  ECCLES, 

PULLMAN. 

WASHINGTON. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

I.  INTRODUCTION. 

Fundamental  Principles  —  Selfish,  Unselfish.  —  Primitive 
Forms — Savagery,  Slavery,  Serfdom,  Capitalism 7 

II.  COMMERCE. 

Primitive  Arts. — Division  of  Labor. — Exchange. — The 
Competitive  System. — Competition. — Public  Conscience..  12 

III.  THE  TRUST. 

The  Great  Comet. — The  Swallowing  Process. — Shameful 
Misuse  of  Wealth  (Moffett) 20 

IV.  REVIEW  OF  PRESENT  CONDITIONS. 

The  Bright  Side. — Machinery. — Log  Cabin  Days  and 
Methods. — The  Dark  Page. — Panics 24 

V.  REVIEW  OF  PRESENT  CONDITIONS  (Continued). 

Rule  of  Concentrated  Wealth  (Moffett).— Evolution  of  a 
Young  Man. — Two  Idle  Classes. — What  of  the  Future? — 
Standard  Oil  (Lawson) ". 31 

VI.  GLANCING  BACKWARD  AND  FORWARD. 

The  Finger  of  God. — Comparison  of  Injuries  of  Exploita- 
tion.— Society  Ripe  for  a  Change. — No  Turning  Back. — 
Danger  of  Anarchy. — In  the  Niagara  River 42 

VII.  ORIGIN    AND   DEFINITIONS    OF   SOCIALISM. 
Frances    E.   Willard   on    Socialism. — Prof.    Ely's   Definition 
and    Arrangement. — What    is    Not    Socialism — Anarchism, 
Communism,     Unionism 47 

VIII.  SOCIAL    REFORM. 

Social  Reform  in  England.-^-Social  Reform  in  New  Zea- 
land.— Prof.  Ely's  Program  of  Social  Reform. — The  Two 
Principles. — Competition,  Co-operation. — Shortness  of  "So- 
cialistic" Legislation. — Socialism  more  practicable  than 
Social  Reform. — The  Hawks  and  Eagles 58 

IX.  THE   PRACTICABILITY    OF    SOCIALISM. 

Scope  of  the  Subject. — Importance. — Intricacy. — Necessity 
for  Patience  72 

X.  JUSTICE   AND    BENEVOLENCE    OF   SOCIALISM. 

Misapprehension. — Sacredness  of  Property  Rights  as  an 
Educator  of  Conscience. — People  better  than  their  Prin- 
ciples.— "Vested  Rights." — Discussion  of  Fundamental 
Moral  Principles. — A  Great  Emergency 73 

XL    ACQUIRING    POSSESSION. 

Taking  Possession. — Four  Methods. — Completeness  of 
Plutocracy's  Title. — Confiscation. — Gradual  Process  vs. 
Rapid  Movement. — "Muck  Rake  Speech." — Proposal  to 
Abolish  Constitutions. — Basis  of  Right  of  Taxation. — 
"Great  Unrest." 83 

XII.     LAW,    ORDER    AND    ORGANIZATION. 

Cross  Action  Produces  Anarchy,  Parallel  Action,  Har- 
mony. —  Competition  Anarchistic,  Co-operation  Concerted 
Action.  —  Development  of  Organization.  —  Public  Owner-- 
ship — Increased  Exchange  of  Services  produces  Necessity 
for  Industrial  Organization. — Blocking  the  Road  to  Pro- 
press. — Society  a  Machine. — Depending  on  the  Politician  as 
a  Specialist ' 90 

XIIL    THE    SOCIALIST    PROGRAM. 

Socialism  with  the  Old  Method  of  Organization. — The 
More  Practicable  New  Method. — Eradication  of  Local 


6  CONTENTS    OF    CHAPTERS 

Self    Interests. — Organization    from    the    Bottom    Upward 
(Gronlund),    (Vail). — Waste   of   Capitalism   and   Economies 
of    Socialism. — The    New    Standard — Moral    Excellence    in- 
"  stead    of    Financial    Excellence 102 

XIV.  DISTRIBUTION     OF   OCCUPATIONS    AND    POPU- 
LATIONS. 

Bellamy's    Plan.. — Craving   for    Distinction. — Elimination   of 
•  the    Great    Leader. — Advantages    of    Equal    Wages. — Dis- 
tnbution    of    Population. — The    Race    Question. — Universal 
Peace 113 

XV.  INDUSTRIAL    ORGANIZATION. 

Raw  Material. — Mining. — Money. — Lumbering  and  Fish- 
ing.— Manufacture. — Machinery. — Furniture  and  Clothing. 
—Food. — Water,  Light  and  Heat. — Transportation,  etc. — 
Decadence  of  the  Great  City. — Increased  Use  of  Railways. 
— Distribution 122 

XVI.  AGRICULTURE. 

Inclination  of  the  Farmer. — Individualistic  Methods. — 
Large  Scale  Methods. — Bonanza  Farming. — Electricity  and 
Future  Machinery. — Science. — Individualistic  Waste  and 
Socialistic  Savings.  133 

XVII.  PHYSICAL    CULTURE   UNDER  SOCIALISM. 
Physical     Development      and     Health. — Medical     Practice 
Now,    and    Then 140 

XVIII.  SOCIAL  AND  INTELLECTUAL  CULTURE  UNDER 
SOCIALISM. 

The  Happy  Mean — the  Village. — Stimulating  Effects  of 
Great  Movements. — 'Discovery  of  America. — The  Reforma- 
tion.— The  American  Declaration  of  Independence. — Abo- 
lition of  Slavery. — "No  Incentive." — Inventive  Genius 
(Dewy). — Removal  of  Trammels  from  Educational  Field. 
—Vanity. — Sweat  Shop  Methods 142 

XIX.  MpRAL    INFLUENCES    UNDER    SOCIALISM. 
Socialism      a      Moral      Movement. — Present     Demoralizing 
Effects  of  Taxation  (Ely). — Subsidized  Vices — The  Liquor 
Traffic,    The    Social    Evil.— The    Family    (Vail).— Religion 
Under   Socialism 152 

XX.  THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE. 

The  Two  Great  Parties,  Capital  and  Labor. — Counter 
Claims  and  Charges. — The  Right  Side. — Whole  Contro- 
versy Product  of  Capitalism;  hence  not  Vital  to  Socialism. 
— Environment  of  Each  Party. — Crimes  charged  against 
Each. — Labor  Troubles  in  the  West. — Socialism  the  Issue.  158 

XXI.  GOVERNMENTAL    ALIGNMENT  WITH    WEALTH. 
Sectional    Views. — Justice    McKenna's    Opinion    in    Moyer- 
Haywood      Case. — Goebel. — Julius      Beiser. — "Corporations 
Enthroned." — Against   a    Snag. — President    Roosevelt    as   a 
leader    of    the    Hawks. — Main    Issue    Socialism. — Fighting 
Tactics. — Roosevelt's   Coming  Prophecy 175 

XXII.  MISCELLANEOUS. 

•  Selected  Miscellanies.— The  Voice  of  Toil. — Revolutions. — 
Capitalism  and  Your  Daughter. — Mr.  Bryan  and  Immoral 
Money. — Gov.  Altgeld's  Optimism. — Miscellaneous  Ob- 
servat;ons  of  the  Author. — Equality  Through  Capitalistic 
Glasses.— The  Red  Flag. — Mother's  Wish. — Around  the 
Square. — The  Test  of  a  True  Socialist. — How  to  Destroy 
Socialism .  186 


A  Plain  Analysis  of  Socialism 


CHAPTER   I. 
INTRODUCTION 

Fundamental  Principles. 

There  are  two  classes  of  principles  that  underlie,  or 
motives  that  prompt  human  action.  These  are, 

1.  Selfish  principles  or  motives — those  which  appeal  to 
each  one's  individual  self  interest. 

2.  Unselfish    or   moral    principles — those   which   prompt 
to  the  consideration  of  the  welfare  of  others  and  to  the  choice 
of  certain  lines  of  action  because  it  is  right. 

First:     Selfish  Principle. 

Principle  i.  Generally,  each  one  strives  to  get  possession 
of  as  much  as  possible  of  the  earth's  resources  and  the  prod- 
ucts which  labor  extracts  therefrom. 

Corollary :  There  is  nothing  so  heinous  but  that  someone 
will  be  ready  to  do  it,  provided  the  reward  is  sufficient. 

Second :     Moral  or  Unselfish   Principles. 

Principle  2.  (Justice)  All  men  have  an  equal  inherent 
right  to  ownership  of  the  earth  and  its  resources. 

Corollary:  All  men  should  have  an  equal  opportunity  to 
use  the  earth's  resources. 

Principle  3.  (Justice)  Having  this  equal  opportunity, 
wealth  belongs  to  those  who  produce  it :  or,  The  producer  of 
wealth  is  entitled  to  the  full  product  of  his  toil. 

Principle  4.  (Benevolence)  Human  welfare  is  the  high- 
est basis  of  right. 

So  far,  in  the  history  of  the  human  race,  the  selfish  prin- 
ciple is  the  one  which  has  generally  prompted  Man's  action. 
And  yet  he  has  all  along  been  more  or  less  susceptible  to 
moral  influences.  Since  the  day  in  which  God  breathed  into 
man's  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  (spiritual  life)  there  has 
probably  not  been  a  tribe  so  wild  and  so  low  as  not  to  be 
influenced  in  some  small  degree  by  moral  principles.  No 
doubt  the  influence  was  small,  very  small  at  times,  and  even 
now,  with  all  the  boasted  enlightenment  of  society,  and  with 
all  the  cases  that  may  be  cited  of  individuals  and  classes  of 
individuals  who  have  heroically  sacrificed  self  on  the  altar 


8  ANALYSIS  OF  SOCIALISM 

ot  humanity,  v/e.  are  forced  to  confess  that  the  average  of 
morality  is  still  riot"  very  high ;  that,  on  the  average,  man  is 
still  influenced  more  by  selfish  than  by  unselfish  motives ; 
and  not  only  so,  but  this  is  true  even  of  that  class  that  is 
regarded  as  particularly  moral. 

Primitive   Forms   of   Civilization. 

That  man  is  a  progressive  being  I  presume  none  will 
deny.  Just  how  far  he  has  progressed  and  how  rapidly  may 
be  a  queston,  but  that  the  most  highly  civilized  nations  have 
risen  from  a  state  of  barbarism  or  savagery  in  the  not  very 
far  distant  past  is  not  questioned.  All  agree  upon  the  one 
practical  point,  which  'alone  concerns  us  in  the  discussion 
of  the  subject  in  hand,  namely,  that  man  has  made  progress 
in  the  past,  especially  in  the  recent  past,  and  is  making  great 
progress  now,  and  this  admitted  fact  I  offer  as  a  reason 
why  he  may  be  expected  to  make  further  progress  in  the 
future. 

With  reference  to  the  industrial  life,  there  are  four  dis- 
tinct stages  of  civilization  known  to  man:  I.  Savagery, 
2.  Slavery,  3.  Serfdom,  4.  Capitalism. 

1.  Savagery.     The  condition  of  man  in  the  savage  state 
is  but  little  above  that  of  the  beast.     His  wants  are  few  and 
simple,  and  may  or  may  not  be  easily  supplied,  that  depend- 
ing on  the   nature  of  the   country  in   which  he  lives,  as  to 
climate,  productions,  etc.    If  he  deoends  upon  fishing  or  hunt- 
ing, like  the  beast  of  prey,  his. living  is  about  as  precarious. 
After  a  time  he  comes  to  desire  better  conditions.    He  makes 
some  effort  to   supply  himself  and  his   family  with  more  of 
the  comforts  of  life.     But  his   advancement  is  slow.     There 
is  one  very  effectual  bar  to  his  progress  along  the  path  that 
leads    to    civilization,    and   that   is   work,    labor.      There    can 
be  no  civilization  without  it,  but  that  is  what  the  savage  most 
dislikes.     By  and  by  an  idea  drops  into  his  head.     Instead  of 
killing  his  captive,  as  his  custom  is,  he  will  make  him  do  his 
work.      Thus   the    savage   has   taken    the   first   decisive   step 
toward  civilization.     He  has   provided  a  way  by  which   the 
work  may  be  done,  will  be  done,  must  be  done.     Cruel  and 
heartless  though  he  be,  he  has  unwittingly  conferred  a  great 
blessing  upon  the  human  race.     He  has  laid  the  foundation 
upon  which  a  future  civilization  may  be  built.     He  has  intro- 
duced human  slavery  into  the  world. 

2.  Slavery.     In  all  the  history  of  the  human  race  man 
has  betrayed  a  degree  of  selfishness  which  has  generally  been 
sufficient  to  prompt  him  to  seek  in  one  way  or  another  to 
partially  or  wholly  shift  the  burdens  of  life  to  other  shoulders 


INTRODUCTION  9 

and  to  appropriate  to  his  own  use  the  products  of  others' 
labors.  And  yet,  after  all,  human  nature  is  not  so  bad  as  it 
would  at  first  appear,  for  the  reason  that  circumstances  and 
the  institutions  of  society  have  generally  been  such  as  to 
wholly  or  partially  hide  from  man  the  criminality  and  hein- 
ousness  of  his  own  actions,  so  that  he  is  at  least  partially 
excusable  on  the  ground  that  his  offence  is  not  entirely 
willful. 

In  the  industrial  life  of  all  past  civilizations  there  have 
been  two  general  classes :  the  exploiters  and  the  exploited. 
The  exploiters  have  been  generally  among  the  most  highly 
honored  and  the  most  enterprising.  The  institutions  and 
customs  of  society  have  been  such  that  they  were  perhaps, 
as  a  rule,  unconscious  that  they  were  doing  otherwise  than 
pursuing  their  natural  and  inalienable  rights ;  and,  in  fact, 
many  of  them  are  among  the  best  of  the  people.  But  just 
how  far  man  has  been  excusable  in  his  "inhumanity  to  man" 
is  not  an  essential  part  of  this  work.  What  we  want  par- 
ticularly to  do  is  to  glean  such  facts  as  will  aid  us  in  shaping 
our  course  for  the  future. 

The  first  method  by  which  man  appropriated  the  labor 
of  his  fellow  man,  aside  from  outright  stealing  and  robbery, 
was  the  taking  possession  of  him  as  a  chattel  and  compelling 
him  to  do  his  work,  reducing  him  to  salvery.  This  was 
pretty  tough  on  the  poor  slave,  but,  as  before  observed,  there 
can  be  no  civilization  without  work,  and  uncivilized  man  is 
too  indolent  to  do  the  work  without  compulsion,  and,  there- 
fore, the  institution  of  chattel  slavery  in  the  beginning  of 
civilization  has  proven  a  blessing  to  after  generations.  Some 
one  has  said  that  every  nation  that  has  risen  from  savagery 
has  climbed  out  on  the  backs  of  slaves.  There  seems  little 
doubt  that  among  all  the  great  nations  of  antiquity  most  of 
the  manual  labor  was  performed  by  slaves.  The  institution 
was  regarded  even  by  the  philosophers  of  those  times  as  an 
unquestionable  right.  The  victorious  nations  accounted  them- 
selves humane  when,  instead  of  killing  their  captives,  they 
sold  them  into  slavery;  and  so  we  find  such  commercial 
nations  as  the  Phoenicians  hovering  like  vultures  around  the 
great  battlefields,  always  ready  to  drive  a  sharp  bargain  in 
the  living  human  spoils  of  victory,  which  they  soM  at  a 
profit  in  other  lands.  The  slave  trade  seems  to  have  been 
the  chief  branch  of  commerce  of  those  people,  and  3  consid- 
erable portion  of  that  of  the  Genoese  and  Venetians  during 
the  middle  ages. 

3.  Serfdom.  The  institution  of  chattel  slavery  was  con- 
tinued in  many  of  the  warm  portions  of  the  earth,  but  never 
obtained  much  foothold  in  cool  climates.  Among:  the  nations 


io  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

of  central  and  northern  Europe,  the  care  of  the  slave  in 
providing  him  with  food,  clothing  and  shelter  cut  off  so 
much  of  the  profit  that  another  plan  was  resorted  to,  called 
serfdom.  The  serf  was  simply  bound  to  the  soil,  so  that  he 
could  not  change  about  from  one  locality  to  another,  and  yet 
was  left  with  some  degree  of  liberty,  being  permitted  to  go 
and  come  for  the  most  part  as  he  pleased ;  and  being  treated 
somewhat  as  a  human  being,  instead  of  as  a  mere  chattel  or 
thing,  he  was  better  contented,  and  became  much  more  trust- 
worthy than  the  chattel  slave,  and  was  often  called  into>  mili- 
tary service.  He  was  generally  left  to  shift  for  himself  in  the 
matter  of  food,  clothing  and  shelter,  which  added  to  his  own 
development  and  relieved  the  master,  who  was  glad  to  escape 
the  burden. 

The  serf  had  little  liberty  except  some  of  its  forms;  his 
condition  as  to  the  enjoyments  of  life  did  not  differ  much 
from  that  of  the  chattel  slave,  except  in  outward  appearancs. 
This  difference,  however,  counted  for  much,  in  that  it  pro- 
moted the  cultivation  of  a  greater  degree  of  self  respect. 

But  serfdom,  as  well  as  chattel  slavery,  could  not  con- 
tinue always.  Both  must  give  way  before  changing  economic 
conditions  and  the  increasing  light  of  civilization.  So  they 
had  to  go,  and  have  been  replaced  by  another  method  of 
exploitation,  the  wage  system,  or  capitalism. 

4.  Capitalism. — Definitions.  The  value  of  a  thing  is  its 
worth  and  is  of  two  kinds,  intrinsic  and  commercial. 

The  intrinsic  value  is  its  real  worth  as  indicated  by  its 
beneficial  utility. 

The  commercial  value  is  its  worth  in  exchange  for 
other  things. 

Wealth  consists  of  all  articles  that  have  commercial  value. 

Capital  is  any  portion  of  wealth  which  is  used  in  the 
production  of  other  wealth. 

The  owner  of  such  productive  wealth  is  called  a  capitalist, 
the  term  being  generally  applied  to  one  who  owns  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  it. 

Money  is  a  standard  used  in  measuring  value  and  is 
anything  that  is  used  as  a  medium  of  exchange. 

Capital  requires  the  application  of  labor  in  order  to 
make  it  productive. 

When  a  capitalist  employs  one  or  more  persons  to  apply 
his  or  their  labor  to  his  capital  in  the  production  of  wealth, 
paying  to  each  one  a  stipulated  sum  of  money  for  his  services, 
such  sum  is  called  a  wa.ere ;  and  an  industrial  system  in  which 
the  workers  have  most  or  all  the  forms  of  freedom  and  work 
for  a  wage  is  called  the  wage  svstem,  or  capitalism,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  slavery  and  serfdom. 


INTRODUCTION  n 

The  wage  system  was  extensively  practiced  by  the 
ancients,  though  how  extensively,  or  when  it  first  became  the 
prevailing  system,  may  be  difficult  to  determine.  Certain  it 
is,  however,  that  when  slavery  and  serfdom  disappeared  they 
were  replaced  by  the  wage  system. 

And  again  we  may  observe  that  the  advantages  to  the 
worker  of  the  wage  system  over  slavery  or  serfdom  are 
mostly  in  outward  appearance;  for  it  has  often  happened 
that  the  lot  of  the  wage  worker  has  been  harder  than  that 
usually  accorded  to  the  slave  or  serf.  But  again  we  say  that 
this  difference  in  outward  appearance  counted  for  a  great 
deal.  The  condition  of  the  chattel  slave,  that  of  abject  servi- 
tude, always  subject  to  the  beck  and  call  and  oversight  of 
another,  was  degrading  in  the  extreme.  The  serf,  having 
some  of  the  forms  of  liberty,  made  some  advancement.  His 
self  respect  was  raised ;  his  intellect  received  a  decided  stim- 
ulus; he  became  more  trustworthy;  his  labor  more  skillful, 
and  therefore  more  profitable  to  his  employers.  Production 
was  no  doubt  increased  over  what  it  was  with  chattel  slavery, 
and  would  probably  have  been  much  greater,  had  it  not  been_ 
for  some  cf  the  evils  of  the  Feudal  System  with  which  serf- 
dom was  generally  connected. 

But  under  the  wage  system  the  worker,  having  all  the 
outward  forms  of  liberty,  came  to  regard  himself  as  in  all 
respects  a  free  man.  As  a  result,  he  soon  rose  in  intellectual 
capacity,  in  skill,  in  enterprise.  As  a  result  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  machinery  production  was  greatly  increased  and  the 
standard  of  living  was  raised  somewhat.  The  profit  which 
the  capitalist  derived  from  his  labor  was  greatly  increased, 
so  that  there  has  come  about  that  great  concentration  of 
wealth,  with  the  great  power  which  it  exerts  in  the  world, 
that  has  given  to  the  whole  system  the  name  capitalism. 

As  compared  with  the  older  industrial  systems,  the  wage 
system  or  capitalism  has  been  a  great  blessing  to  the  human 
race ;  nevertheless,  capitalism  is  but  a  method  of  exploitation 
by  which  the  capitalist  appropriates  to  himself  the  labor  of 
the  wage  worker,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  it  too  must  soon  be 
weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting  before  ah  enlight- 
ened public  conscience  and  be  replaced,  may  we  not  hope, 
by  a  system  in  which  there  shall  be  no  more  exploitation, 
and  under  which  "man's  inhumanity  to  man"  shall  forever 
cease? 

"Man,  whose  heaven  erected  face 

With  smiles  of  love  adorn; 
Man's  inhumanity  to  man 

Makes  countless  thousands  mourn." — Burns. 


12  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

CHAPTER  II. 
COMMERCE. 

Primitive  Arts.  The  wants  of  man  in  the  primitive  state 
are  few  and  simple.  With  a  club  he  kills  his  game,  tears  it 
into  pieces,  and  devours  it  raw.  Accidentally  he  discovers 
the  use  of  a  sharp  stick.  In  the  same  way,  perhaps,  he  learns 
the  use  of  fire.  With  a  shell  or  sharp  rock  he  sharpens  his 
stick;  next  he  hardens  it  in  the  fire  and  has  a  somewhat  for- 
midable weapon,  a  wooden  spear. 

Another  very  important  accomplishment  was  the  learn- 
ing to  throw  his  spear.  Here  his  acquirements  came  to  a 
standstill  for  awhile.  With  the  development  of  the  spear  and 
the  javelin  the  savage  probably  rested  in  the  thought  that  he 
had  reached  the  utmost  of  human  attainment  in  this  .line. 
After  some  time,  perhaps  many  centuries,  a  further  great 
discovery  is  made,  and  that,  to  him,  most  wonderful  weapon 
and  instrument  of  the  chase,  the  bow  and  arrow,  is  developed. 

Division  of  Labor.  In  his  primitive  condition,  each  man 
is  generally  his  own  mechanic.  His  highest  skill  is  exerted 
in  carving  out,  with  his  rude  instruments,  the  bow  and  arrow. 
Some  have  not  skill  to  do  this  with  any  degree  of  success. 
Others  have  special  aptitudes,  and  they  from  preference,  while 
still  others  from  necessity,  as,  for  instance,  by  reason  of  being 
old  or  crippled,  cultivate  their  mechanical  skill  by  making 
and  supplying  tools  to  those  who  are  less  skillful,  but  stronger 
and  more  active,  and  receive  from  them  in  return  a  portion 
of  the  products  of  the  chase.  It  was  somewhat  thus  that 
man  first  learned  the  principle  of  the  division  of  labor. 

Exchange.  Simple  as  were  the  wants  of  the  savage,  it 
often  happened  that  these  could  not  all  be  supplied  from  one 
locality,  and  so  exchanges  became  necessary.  Shells  and  fish 
from  the  seashore  were  exchanged  for  articles  of  the  interior. 
Nuts  and  berries  of  one  locality  were  exchanged  for  the  game 
and  skins  of  another.  In  such  simple  beginnings,  commerce 
originated.  The  simplest  method  of  exchange,  and  no  doubt 
that  which  was  used  at  first,  was  by  barter,  exchanging  one 
thing  for  another.  As  an  exclusive  method  this  did  not  prob- 
ably continue  long.  And  yet  it  has  been  used  more  or  less 
through  all  succeeding  generations.  Those  of  us  who  have 
passed  the  half  century  mark  may  easily  recall  the  old  log 
cabin  days  when  money  was  scarce  and  people  exchanged 
their  products,  often  without  much  regard  for  money  value. 
It  was  a  common  occurrence  for  a  man  to  plow  or  gather 
corn  or  make  rails  for  the  cobbler  who  worked  during  the 
same  time  making  or  mending  his  shoes.  In  the  same  way 


COMMERCE  13 

the  farmer  exchanged  work  with  the  carpenter,  the   black- 
smith, the  tanner,  etc. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  true  and  just  basis  of  exchange 
is  the  labor  time  required  in  the  production,  due  allowance 
being  made  for  the  value  of  skilled  labor.  To  what  extent 
this  principle  was  carried  in  exchanging  articles  already  pro- 
duced is  of  course  unknown,  but  it  was  probably  never  exten- 
sively used,  for  the  reason  that  man,  even  among  the  nations 
who  have  attained  the  highest  development  hitherto  known, 
has  not  generally  been  sufficiently  unselfish  and  fair  minded 
to  live  up  to  a  true  and  just  standard.  And  this  opens  up 
before  us  a  broad  side  view  of  an  important  moral  phase  of 
the  subject. 

Here  let  U3  pause  and  restate  two  of  the  principles  men- 
tioned at  the  beginning  of  Chapter  I,  namely,  All  men  have 
an  equal  inherent  right  to  ownership  of  the  earth  and  its 
resources ;  and,  Wealth  belongs  to  those  'who  produce  it. 

For  many  years  these  principles,  more  or  less  definitely 
stated,  have  been  flaunted  to  the  breeze  on  the  banners  of 
Socialism,  and  in  fact,  of  nearly  all  reformatory  movements 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  They  have  constituted  a  standing 
challenge  to  the  world  for  refutal ;  but  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  they  are  an  acknowledged  contradiction  of,  and 
menace  to,  our  present  system  of  society,  they  have  stood 
unassailed,  and  for  but  one  reason,  namely,  that  they  are 
simply  unassailable.  They  are  too  self  evident  to  even  a 
superficial  thinker  to  be  questioned.  And  yet  they  condemn 
the  fundamental  institutions  of  society.  Principle  II.  places 
the  moral  ownership  of  the  earth  in  the  whole  people,  while 
we  find  the  legal  ownership,  even  in  our  own  new  America, 
in  the  hands  of  a  comparatively  few,  and  fast  passing  into 
the  hands  of  a  very  few.  Principle  III.  vests  the  moral 
ownership  of  the  whole  product  of  labor  in  the  laborer,  while 
we  find  the  legal  ownership  of  most  of  it  in  other  hands. 

In  exchanging  the  products  of  tabor,  as  before  observed, 
man  has  generally  proven  too  selfish  to  conform  to  a  just 
standard.  With  the  individualistic  method  of  production,  even 
though  the  moral  sentiment  might  be  high  enough  to  attempt 
the  adoption  of  the  labor  time  basis  as  a  custom,  there  would 
be  so  many  exceptional  cases  and  side  conditions  that  they 
together  with  man's  selfishness  would  soon  overturn  the  cus- 
tom. To  illustrate  some  of  these,  A  has  a  surplus  of  corn  and 
B  a  surplus  of  wheat.  A  desires  an  exchange  but  B  objects, 
saying  he  has  sufficient  corn  for  his  own  use,  and  as  there  is 
an  overproduction  of  corn  in  the  community  he  would  have 
to  hold  it  for  a  long  time  before  he  would  be  likely  to  have 
an  opportunity  to  exchange  it  for  some  other  article  he  needed. 


i4  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

So  he  demands  from  A  a  larger  amount  of  corn  than  is 
represented  by  the  labor  time  of  the  wheat,  and  though  he 
be  strictly  honest  in  his  intentions,  yet  unless  he  be  unusually 
fair  minded  and  unselfish  B  will  incline  to  magnify  the  dif- 
ference in  the  value  to  him.  A,  looking  at  it  from  his  own 
point  of  view,  will  incline  to  minimize  them;  nevertheless 
he  must  have  wheat  and  doesn't  know  where  else  to  get  it. 
So  he  reluctantly  accedes  to  B's  terms,  at  the  same  time 
feeling  that  B  has  taken  advantage  of  his  necessity;  and, 
perhaps,  resolving  that  he  will  take  a  -like  advantage  at  the 
first  opportunity.  B  also  reckons  on  corn  being  more  easily 
spoilt  and  more  likely  to  be  destroyed  by  rats  and  mice  than 
wheat,  and  if  it  turns  out  that  he  makes  a  great  gain  by  the 
transaction  he  justifies  himself  saying  it  was  worth  a  great 
deal  to  take  so  much  risk. 

If  A's  surplus  consists  of  cattle,  horses  and  other  live- 
stock, their  care  arid  feed  while  holding  them  for  a  reduction 
of  the  supply  must  be  taken  into  consideration.  If  it  is  in 
perishable  articles,  like  potatoes,  for  instance,  that  also  must 
be  reckoned.  Cases  like  these  would  soon  multiply,  until  the 
labor  time  basis  would  soon  disappear;  and  practically,  each 
one  would  seek  to  get  the  best  possible  exchange  for  himself. 
And  that  is  just  what  has  come  to  pass. 

In  all  past  civilizations  so  far  as  history  informs  us,  the 
agreed  relative  value  of  the  articles  exchanged,  or  the  agreed 
money  price  of  the  articles  sold  or  exchanged  has  been  the 
basis  of  practically  all  exchanges.  Generally,  each  one  seeks 
the  best  of  the  bargain,  but  not  always.  In  many  rural  com- 
munities and  religious  societies  there  has  been  a  disposition 
to  refrain  from  charging  exorbitant  prices.  But  the  tendency 
has  been  to  drift  to  the  idea  that  the  value  of  an  article  is 
the  most  that  it  will  sell  for,  and  that  is  the  principle  that 
controls  in  all  our  exchanges  to-day.  This  constitutes  a  part 
of  the  system  which  has  grown  up  with  it, 

The  Competitive  System.  The  competitive  system  has 
three  essential  elements:  i.  The  Agreed ^ Price;  2.  The  Law 
of  Supply  and  Demand,  and  3.  Competition. 

The  first  has  already  been  discussed. 

2.  The  Law  of  Supply  and  Demand.  When  a  less  quan- 
tity of  any  article  is  offered  for  sale  than  would-be  purchasers 
are  seeking  to  buy,  the  supply  is  said  to  be  less  than  the 
demand;  when  there  is  as  much  offered  as  is  desired  to  be 
purchased,  the  supply  is  said  to  equal  the  demand,  and  when 
there  is  more  offered  the  supply  is  said  to  be  greater  than  the 
demand. 

One  who  makes,  causes  to  grow,  or  gathers  an  article  is 


COMMERCE  15 

called  a  producer;   the  making  or  gathering  or  both,  the  pro- 
duction, and  the  whole  of  the  article  produced,  the  product. 

Those  who  use  an  article  that  is  produced  are  called  the 
consumers,  and  the  act  of  using,  the  consumption  of  that 
article. 

The  supply  of  an  article  does  not  always  correspond  to 
the  production,  for  several  reasons,  among  which  are,  that 
the  producer  may  be  too  busy  at  something  else  to  move  the 
product  to  market;  or,  he  may  be  holding  for  an  expected 
rise  in  the  price.  Similarly,  the  demand  may  be  greater  than 
the  consumption.  The  consumer  may  find  it  more  convenient 
at  a  particular  time  to  purchase  and  store  away  for  future 
use,  than  to  wait  till  he  needs  it,  and  he  may  desire  to  pur- 
chase before  there  is  an  expected  rise  in  the  price.  When 
this  is  the  case,  profit  mongers  enter  the  field  expecting  to 
reap  a  harvest  for  themeslves  by  buying  and  holding  for  a 
rise.  In  the  past  they  often  competed  with  each  other  and 
forced  the  price  up;  In  recent  times,  however,  they  are  gen- 
erally shrewd  enough  to  combine  explicitly  or  tacitly,  or 
divide  territory. 

When  the  supply  is  less  than  the  demand,  the  price  goes 
up  and  remains  so  until  more  is  produced,  or  the  producer 
is  induced  by  the  higher  price  to  put  more  of  the  product  on 
the  market.  When  the  supply  exceeds  the  demand  the  price 
falls  and  remains  down  till  the  supply  is  consumed,  or  the 
consumer  is  induced  by  the  lower  price  to  store  more  for 
future  use.  It  will  be  observed  that  an  under  supplywith  its 
higher  price  stimulates  production,  while  an  over  supply  with 
its  lower  price  stimulates  consumption. 

3.  Competition.  When  a  large  enough  number  of  per- 
sons engage  in  the  production  of  a  commodity  to  furnish  an 
over  supply  and  a  consequent  fall  in  the  price,  it  is  evident 
that  some  of  them  must  go  out  of  business,  or  a  part,  or  all 
of  them,  must  diminish  their  production. 

When  a  number  are  desirous  of  selling  their  product  in 
order  to  buy  other  necessaries  and  the  amount  of  the  product 
offered  is  greatly  in  excess  of  the  demand,  since  the  purchaser 
always  seeks  to  buy  as  cheaply  as  possible,  it  is  evident  that 
those  who  offer  at  the  lowest  price  will  be  the  first  to  sell. 

This  causes  a  competition  or  struggle  among  the  pro- 
ducers. Generally  it  is  some  expense  to  fit  up  for  the  pro- 
duction of  a  given  article,  so  that  those  who  have  been  at  the 
expense  dislike  to  change  to  some  other  calling;  and  besides, 
it  often  occurs  that  thev  see  no  other  opportunity  elsewhere, 
so  they  set  their  minds  to  work,  studying  how  they  may 
reduce  the  cost  of  production  so  as  to  enable  them  to  under- 
sell their  competitors.  Better  tools,  better  methods,  lower 


16  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

wages  to  hired  help,  harder  work  and  longer  hours — any  or  all 
of  these  are  brought  into  requisition  in  the  competitive 
struggle.  Finally,  those  who  fall  behind  in  the  struggle 
change  wholly  or  in  part  to  producing  something  else,  until 
the  supply  becomes  diminished  so  that  it  is  less  than  the 
demand.  Then  the  price  begins  to  rise;  for,  let  it  be  noted, 
whenever  the  supply  is  less  than  the  demand  the  price  rises, 
and  whenever  it  is  greater  the  price  falls.  And  let  us  note 
also  that  this  principle  applies  to  money  and  labor  as  well  as 
-to  ordinary  articles  of  merchandise. 

Such  then  is  the  competitive  system  of  exchanging 
wealth;  a  system  that  is  as  old  as  history  and  which  has  been 
depended  upon  by  all  past  civilizations  to  stimulate  produc- 
tion, keep  the  wheels  of  commerce  turning,  and  bring  to  each 
one's  door  such  a  variety  of  labor's  products  as  will  supply 
his  every  want.  The  fact  has  been  recognized  all  along  by 
thinking  people,  that  it  is  far  from  providing  justice  in  each 
individual  case;  and  yet  it  was  regarded  as,  on  the  whole, 
generally  bringing  approximate  justice;  that,  like  a  game  of 
chance,  if  one  loses  in  one  transaction,  he  will  gain  it  back 
in  another.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  similarity,  and 
more  is  the  pity  for  the  competitive  system,  that  the  resem- 
blance is  so  strong.  As  in  an  ordinary  game  tricks  are  intro- 
duced that  give  the  strong  an  advantage  over  the  weak,  so  it 
is  in  competition ;  and  whether  or  not  man  could  have  risen 
from  savagery  as  well  without  as  with  competition,  and  how- 
ever well  it  may  be  suited  to  a  low  stage  of  civilization,  one 
thing  is  certain ;  the  competitive  system  is  based  on  pure 
selfishness,  and  is,  therefore,  not  well  suited  to  a  high  civili- 
zation. Allowing  for  exceptions,  the  producer  produces  more 
in  order  that  he  may  have  more  for  himself,  may  get  more 
money  into  his  own  pockets,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing the  price  cheaper  to  the  consumer;  he  withholds  his 
product  from  the  market  in  hope  of  getting  a  better  price 
later  on,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  giving  his  fellow  pro- 
ducers a  better  opportunity  of  selling  theirs,  and  he  changes 
to  some  other  occupation  knowing  that  his  doing  so  will  be 
against  the  interests  of  those  of  that  occupation,  because  he 
seeks  to  better  his  own  condition  and  not  because  he  is  desir- 
ous of  alleviating  the  condition  of  those  in  the  occupation 
which  he  is  leaving.  Again,  in  the  same  way,  the  consumer 
buys  heavily  in  a  crowded  market,  simply  because  he  gets 
more  for  the  money,  and  not  to  accommodate  those  who  are 
anxious  to  sell. 

Yes,  our  great  commercial  system,  the  competitive  sys- 
tem, is  exceedingly  selfish.  We  have  become  so  accustomed 
to  it,  however,  that  it  hardly  seems  so.  We  have  come  to 


COMMERCE  17 

take  it  as  a  matter  of  course  and  go  right  on  and  seldom 
think  of  it  as  being  otherwise  than  all  right.  Its  main  arm, 
competition,  has  extended  into  and  become  a  part  of  all  indus- 
trial systems.  They  too  were  born  and  nurtured  in  selfish- 
ness, and  they  too  were,  for  a  long  time,  taken  as  a  matter 
of  course,  regarded  as  a  natural  condition,  and  therefore  right. 
After  a  time  economic  conditions  changed,  the  public  con- 
science was  awakened,  and  serfdom  had  to  go ;  chattel  slavery 
had  to  go.  Then  public  conscience,  seeing  there  were  no 
more  cases  on  docket,  or  at  least  none  of  importance,  was 
quietly  rocked  to  sleep. 

For  a  long  time  she  has  been  slumbering.  Often  she  has 
been  disturbed  by  unpleasant  dreams.  Sometimes  she  has 
been  startled  and  partially  awakened,  but  only  to  think  some- 
what stupidly  for  a  very  short  interval  of  her  hideous  visions, 
and  then  relapse  into  the  same  unconscious  slumber.  The 
disturbances  have  become  more  frequent,  and  recently  she 
has  been  aroused  by  events  of  so  startling  a  nature  that  it  is 
certain  she  is  actually  waking  up.  We  may  also  add  that  the 
events  that  are  now  transpiring  are  so  intensely  exciting  that 
there  can  scarcely  be  a  doubt  that  she  will  remain  awake. 
Soon  she  will  be  seen  donning  the  ermine  and  taking  her 
place  on  the  bench.  Soon  our  great  competitive,  capitalistic, 
wage  slavery  civilization  will  be  called  up  before  her  to 
answer  to  an  indictment  in  which  it  is  charged  with  all  the 
crimes  that  are  known  to  civilized  man.  The  trial  will  no 
doubt  be  long  and  tedious.  The  ground  will  be  stubbornly 
contested,  inch  by  inch.  Every  falsehood  and  every  device 
which  human  ingenuity  can  invent  will  be  brought  into  requi- 
sition. The  defendant  will  be  supported  by  all  the  power 
that  concentrated  wealth  can  furnish,  and  it  will  be  a  giant 
to  cope  with.  Nevertheless,  truth  is  mighty  and  will  finally 
prevail.  The  evidence  will  be  sifted ;  it  will  thoroughly  con- 
vict the  defendant,  who  will  be  found  guilty  of  all  the  crimes 
charged  in  the  indictment,  and  will  be  sentenced  to  be  tram- 
pled under  foot  amid  the  wreck  and  rubbish  of  a  semi-bar- 
barous past. 

But  let  us  observe  that  the  public  conscience  is  largely 
under  the  care  and  supervision  of  the  ruling  class,  the  most 
influential,  the  wealthiest  class,  the  class  that  has  control  of 
the  government,  the  press,  and  all  the  institutions  of  society; 
this  class  usually  lulls  her  to  sleep  or  awakens  her,  which 
ever  best  suits  its  purpose,  based,  of  course,  on  its  own  self 
interest.  So  long  as  chattel  slavery  best  suited  its  purpose 
the  hnsh-a-bye  song  was  continued  so  that  the  cry  of  the 
oppressed  bondman  was  not  heard  and  the  shrill  cry  of  the 
abolition  agitator  was  smothered  and  confused  so  that  the 


18  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

sleeper  was  but  occasionally  startled.  But  when  the  time 
came  that  wage  slavery  was  more  profitable  to  the  more 
powerful  masters  than  chattel  slavery,  then  the  public  con- 
science was  called  up  and  chattel  slavery  had  to  go.  The 
Cuban  atrocities  had  been  long  continued,  little  noticed  by 
the  people  of  the  United  States;  but  in  the  year  1898  our 
imports  exceeded  our  exports,  the  capitalists  must  have  a 
market  for  their  surplus  products;  so  the  great  dailies  imme- 
diately began  to  parade  before  the  public,  pictures  of  human 
butchery,  of  Spanish  tyranny  and  Cuban  misery.  The  smaller 
periodicals  and  the  local  press  copied  these  articles,  the  public 
conscience  was  awakened  and  the  war  followed.  So  it  has 
been  in  most  wars  of  conquest;  and  often  that  most  sacred 
thing,  that  purest  gem  of  society,  the  public  conscience,  has 
been  utilized  by  a  corrupt  plutocracy  to  minister  to  their  in- 
satiable greed.  Sometimes,  when  the  public  danger  is  very 
great,  or  the  public  conscience  is  greatly  outraged,  a  weaker 
influential  party  may  succeed  in  arousing  her  in  spite  of  the 
efforts  of  the  stronger  to  muffle  and  confuse  their  cry;  but 
generally  the  stronger  party,  the  wealthiest  class,  prevails  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  cry  of  the  weaker  is  little  heard.  I 
trust  I  may  be  pardoned  for  anticipating  somewhat,  but  it 
is  a  convenient  point  to  say  that  the  present  awakening  has 
been  caused  by  several  widely  different  elements,  chiefly  the 
smaller  capitalists  and  those  under  their  influence,  and  the 
Socialist  agitators.  For  a  number  of  years  the  latter  have 
cried  aloud  and  not  entirely  without  success ;  for  the  sleeper 
has  sometimes  been  known  to  sit  up  and  rub  her  eyes,  only, 
however,  to  be  lulled  to  sleep  again,  but  now,  the  smaller 
capitalists,  who  formerly  were  principal  singers  in  the  lullaby 
chorus,  have  become  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  being  swal- 
lowed up  by  the  great  capitalists,  have  suddenly  dropped  out 
of  the  chorus,  have  joined  the  agitators  and  are  violently  shak- 
ing the  sleeper  with  magazine  and  newspaper  articles  much 
to  the  chagrin  and  discomfort  of  the  great  capitalists,  wha 
appear  to  have  been  taken  by  surprise. 

And  permit  me  to  remark  in  passing  that  I  do  not  wish 
to  be  understood  as  claiming  that  conscience  is  the  only 
motive,  or  even  the  strongest  that  determines  national  action. 
It  is,  however,  a  factor  that  comes  in  to  be  reckoned  with  and 
cannot  be  ignored  under  a  popular  government  like  our  own, 
or  any  other  where  the  popular  will  is  consulted.  It  is  a 
creature  of  education,  and  is  very  pliant.  Naturally  self- 
assertive,  it  quickly  loses  this  quality  when  the  attention  is 
distracted  or  directed  into  other  channels.  And  so  it  is  that 
those  who  have  the  power  to  grain  and  hold  the  public  atten- 
tion often  perpetrate  a  wrong  against  society  by  educating  the 


COMMERCE  19 

public  conscience  through  specious  argument  and  skillful 
maneuvering,  till  the  wrong  seems  right,  or  by  distracting 
the  attention  till  the  wrong  is  overlooked. 

The  exercise  of  the  public  conscience  occurs  mainly  in 
those  cases  where  a  wrong  is  proposed  or  actually  perpetrated 
against  a  class,  and  the  main  body  of  society  recognizes  the 
wrong  and  disapproves  it  for  that  reason,  and  not  because  of 
their  own  self-interest  in  the  matter.  When  a  wrong  is  perpe- 
trated against  the  great  body  of  the  people  their  recognition 
and  disapproval  of  the  wrong  could  hardly  be  regarded  as 
a  matter  of  conscience,  but  rather  of  self  interest,  which  in 
extreme  cases  takes  on  the  form  of  self  preservation.  In  the 
case  of  American  chattel  slavery  the  Northern  capitalists  op- 
posed it  through  self  interest  while  with  the  masses  of  the 
people  it  was  almost  exclusively  a  matter  of  conscience.  The 
capitalists,  having  control  of  the  press,  held  the  attention  upon 
the  evil  till  the  public  conscience  was  aroused,  which  resulted 
in  a  great  tidal  wave  of  indignation  that  swept  all  before  it. 

The  condition  of  the  slave  was  so  degraded  that  what  he 
thought  and  said  and  did  cut  very  little  figure  in  his  emanci- 
pation. Nearly  all  of  this  work  had  to  be  done  by  those  above 
him  who  sympathized  with  him,  and  whose  consciences  re- 
volted at  the  injustice  heaped  upon  him.  In  our  present  case 
it  is  different.  True,  there  is  a  class  at  the  bottom,  the  sub- 
merged tenth,  if  you  please,  whose  condition  is  pitiable  in  the 
extreme,  worse,  far  worse  than  was  that  of  the  black  slave. 
A  large  part  of  these  are  nearly  as  ignorant  and  about  as  little 
able  to  help  themselves.  Their  emancipation  depends  upon 
the  class  above  them,  the  great  body  of- the  people,  who,  as 
they  come  to  learn  and  realize  their  abject  condition,  are  com- 
ing to  sympathize  more  and  more  with  them ;  and  whose  con- 
sciences are  coming  to  revolt  more  and  more  at  the  injustice 
heaped  upon  them.  We  may  also  add  that  again  a  great  tidal 
wave  of  indignation  is  rapidly  rising  that  will  surely  sweep  all 
before  it.  Thus  far  the  cases  are  alike;  but  here  the  diverg- 
ence begins — in  the  causes  which  produce  the  indignation. 
Much  of  it  is  caused  by  the  outrage  against  the  public  con- 
science, growing  out  of  the  degradation  of  the  submerged 
class,  and  this  alone  would,  no  doubt,  in  time  produce  the 
sweeping  wave. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  great  sympathy  springing  up  among 
the  great  body  of  the  people  in  behalf  of  the  man  at  the  bot- 
tom, which  is  becoming  a  great  force;  but  a  far  more  power- 
ful than  this  is  that  which  springs  from  self  interest  and  the 
impulse  of  self  preservation.  How  long  before  I  or  my  chil- 
dren will  be  in  the  same  condition?  This  is  the  question 
which  startles.  It  appeals  to  the  man  who  has  a  dollar  a  day 


20  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

job  to-day  but  is  doubtful  as  to  whether  it  will  last  till  next 
week.  In  the  same  way  it  appeals  to  the  two  dollar,  three 
dollar,  five  or  ten  dollar  man ;  to  the  clerk  behind  the  counter, 
and  the  farmer  in  the  field;  to  the  preacher  in  the  pulpit,  and 
the  judge  upon  the  bench;  to  lawyers,  doctors,  teachers  and 
men  of  all  professions ;  to  men  of  low  salaries  and  men  of  high 
salaries — all  these  classes  are  coming  to  entertain  a  feeling  of 
great  insecurity;  and  with  all  any  forecast  of  the  future  is 
shrouded  with  a  more  or  less  gloomy  foreboding. 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE   TRUST 

As  we  have  seen  competition  has  been  depended  upon  to 
provide  approximate  justice  in  all  commercial  transactions. 
And  yet  all  political  economists,  from  Adam  Smith  down, 
agree  that  under  competition  the  tendency  is  for  wealth 
gradually  to  become  concentrated  into  the  hands  of  a  few. 
During  the  last  half  century,  with  the  advent  of  machinery  on 
a  large  scale,  this  tendency  has  been  greatly  accelerated.  By 
the  use  of  machinery  the  production  of  wealth  has  been 
greatly  increased.  Often  there  has  been  a  real  or  apparent 
overproduction  of  some  articles,  and  in  all  such  cases  oppor- 
tunity was  offered  to  the  exploiting  capitalists  to  add  greater 
profits  to  their  already  rapidly  increasing  stock  of  wealth. 
Fortunes,  great  fortunes,  sprang  into  existence  and  came  roll- 
ing and  gathered  as  they  rolled.  The  speed  with  which  the 
concentration  went  on  became  greatly  accelerated.  The  signs 
seemed  ominous.  Wise  men  began  to  shake  their  heads,  say- 
ing, "It  is  only  a  question  of  time/' 

But  within  the  last  twenty  years  a  new  factor  has  come 
on  the  scene.  A  strange  comet  has  appeared  on  the  com- 
mercial horizon.  It  was  a  mere  speck  at  first,  and  only  drew  a 
passing  remark  from  the  casual  observer.  But  a  little  study 
revealed  two  very  important  and  startling  facts :  First,  it  was 
coming  directly  this  way ;  and,  secondly,  it  was  travelling 
with  a  rapid  and  very  greatly  accelerated  veloctiy.  I  mean  that 
somewhat  varied  form  of  capitalistic  combination  which  we 
call  the  "Trust."  The  rapid  advance  of  the  stranger  soon  occa- 
sioned some  solicitude  among  the  people.  The  politicians 
were  consulted,  and  they  simply  said,  "Never  mind,  only  elect 
our  party  and  we'll  soon  break  the  trust."  A  few  of  the 
people  became  alarmed,  and  then  the  politicians  began  to 
howl,  "Down  the  trust!"  and  for  a  dozen  vears  it  has  been  the 
campaign  watchword  of  both  the  great  political  parties. 


THE   TRUST  21 

But  nothing  stayed  nor  even  hindered  the  onward  sweep 
of  the  great  comet.  Now  she  is  upon  us.  Already  she  has  de- 
molished all  that  was  claimed  to  be  good  in  our  competitive 
system.  The  capitalists  have  substituted  combination  for 
competition.  All  that  is  left  of  competition  is  among  the 
farmers,  the  smaller  tradesmen  and  the  wage  workers  (for 
labor,  too,  is  a  commodity  subject  to  competition)  ;  and  to  all 
of  these  classes  it  is  the  direst  curse.  It  is  becoming  apparent 
that  our  liberties  must  be  entirely  swept  aside  unless  some 
decisive  step  be  soon  taken.  And  these  are  the  startling  and 
exciting  incidents  that  are  just  now  awakening  the  sleeper 
mentioned  in  the  last  chapter.  How  much  of  liberty  is  left 
even  now  is  a  very  serious  question.  The  process  of  wealth 
concentration  under  competition  was  gradual,  yet  moved  with 
an  accelerated  velocity.  Under  the  trust  the  acceleration  is 
so  stupendously  increased  that  there  is  hardly  a  comparison. 
The  one  may  be  called  an  absorption,  while  the  other  is  simply 
a  swallowing  process.  And  if  the  process  continues  at  the 
present  rate  it  will  not  require  long  for  the  trust  to  swallow 
our  whole  civilization. 

And  now,  what  is  this  great  monster?  What  is  the  nature 
of  this  thing  we  call  the  "Trust?"  Just  wherein  lies  its  power 
to  take  the  wealth  from  the  many  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of 
the  few?  Just  what  is  it  doing,  can  it  do,  will  it  do,  and  what 
is,  and  will  be  the  effect  on  society,  and  what  may  society  do 
with  it?  Under  the  competitive  system  each  individual  pro- 
ducer, consumer,  middleman,  distributor  or  speculator  (and 
let  it  be  remembered  that  a  partnership  or  corporation  is 
accounted  an  individual),  ea'ch  individual  constitutes  a  unit. 
When  every  unit  acts  independently  of  every  other  unit  com- 
petition is  said  to  be  normal ;  but  when  two  or  more  units  com- 
bine  so  as  to  raise  or  lower  prices  for  the  purpose  of  enhancing 
their  mutual  interests,  competition  is  thereby  rendered  abnor- 
mal to  the  extent  that  such  combination  affects  prices. 

As  we  have  already  seen  competition  failed  to  secure 
justice  in  each  individual  exchange.  It  was  recognized  as  a 
game  of  chance ;  but  it  was  thought  to  be  a  game  in  which 
each  one  had  a  fair  chance,  so  that  in  a  large  number  of 
exchanges  there  would,  on  the  average,  generally  be  approxi- 
mate justice  secured  to  each  one.  It  follows  then,  that  when 
two  or  more  persons  who  own  any  commodity,  as  beef,  for 
instance,  conspire  together  to  raise  the  price,  or  when  pur- 
chasers conspire  to  lower  it,  they  play  unfairly,  or  are  guilty 
of  foul  play,  or,  to  put  it  in  up-to-date  language,  they  have 
formed  a  trust.  It  does  not  matter  whether  the  conspiracy  is 
a  written  agreement,  an  oral  agreement,  or  an  unexpressed, 


22  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

tacit  understanding.  If  it  affects  prices  it  is  an  unfair  play. 
It  is  virtually  a  trust. 

Such  foul  play  is  probably  as  old  as  commerce  and  has,  no 
doubt,  been  practiced  more  or  less  through  all  past  stages  of 
civilization;  but  the  cases  were  probably  comparatively 
limited  in  number  and  generally  on  a  small  scale.  It  is  only 
in  very  recent  times  that  it  has  reached  such  grand  pro- 
portions. 

While  the  industrial  units  were  small  such  combinations 
were  of  little  consequence.  Perhaps  the  first  cases  that 
attracted  general  attention  were  where  two  railroads  belonging 
to  two  opposing  companies  ran  parallel.  At  first  they  cut  rates 
to  the  great  delight  of  the  people,  who  rejoiced  greatly  in  the 
realization  of  the  saying  that  "competition  is  the  life  of  trade." 
Soon  the  companies  saw  their  folly  and  came  to  realize  that 
while  competition  is  the  life  of  trade,  it  is  also  the  death  of 
the  trader.  They  therefore  united  and  raised  charges  as  high 
as  the  traffic  would  bear,  and  the  people's  rejoicing  came  to  a 
sudden  stop. 

But  this  was  only  the  beginning  of  sorrows.  Soon  the 
real  thing  appeared.  A  very  little  thing  at  first,  it  soon  grew 
to  make  itself  seen  and  felt  and  feared,  and  now  we  are  up 
against  it.  Now  we  have  trusts  galore — great  railroad  trusts, 
great  iron  and  steel  trusts,  a  great  oil  trust  that  has  already 
swallowed  several  others,  great  steamship  trusts,  machinery 
trusts,  woollen  trusts,  cotton  trusts,  linen  trusts,  clothing 
trusts  and  all  sorts  and  sizes  of  manufacturing  trusts.  Then 
there  are  coal  trusts,  wood  trusts,  lumber  trusts,  shingle 
trusts,  coffin  trusts,  meat  trusts, flour  trusts,  fish  trusts,  fruit 
trusts,  leather  trusts,  professional  trusts  of  all  sorts,  labor 
trusts  of  all  sorts,  mining  trusts  and  so  on  without  limit,  not 
forgetting  the  money  trust.  Go  through  a  department  store 
and  pick  out  all  the  articles  the  price  of  which  is  in  no  way 
affected  by  the  trust;  you  may  have  a  small  vest  pocket 
series,  but  more  likely  you  will  have  nothing. 

The  methods  of  the  trust  are  varied,  and  yet  may,  per- 
haps, all  be  expressed  by  the  word  combination,  as  opposed  to 
competition.  There  are  combinations  to  bull  or  bear  the 
market,  raising  or  lowering  prices  according  as  those  in  the 
combine  desire  to  sell  or  buy.  One  of  the  chief  methods  of 
raising  prices  is  by  limiting  the  supply,  which  is  done  in  sev- 
eral ways :  one,  by  curtailing  the  output  of  each  plant  in  the 
combine ;  another,  by  pooling  profits  and  closing  part  of  the 
plants ;  still  another,  by  destroying  a  part  of  the  product.  The 
last  is  resorted  to  perhaps  oftener  in  cases  of  perishable 
articles  like  fish,  potatoes  and  other  vegetables,  fruit,  etc., 
large  quantities  of  which  are  often  dumped  into  rivers  and 


THE    TRUST  23 

harbors.  But  it  does  not  by  any  means  stop  with  what  are 
usually  termed  perishable  articles.  Even  shiploads  of  spices 
are  sometimes  dumped  into  the  sea.  After  the  speculators 
have  bought  up  practically  all  of  a  cotton  crop  they  sometimes 
burn  large  quantities  of  it.  In  all  these  cases  the  object  is  to 
reduce  the  product  till  the  supply  is  less  than  the  demand, 
knowing  that  then  the  price  will  rise,  so  that  they  can  get 
more  for  the  remainder  than  they  could  have  gotten  for  the 
whole  product  at  the  lower  prices  which  the  over  supply 
would  have  brought. 

Often  intimidation  is  resorted  to,  as  in  cases  where 
great  packing  associations  coerce  local  markets  all  over  the 
country  into  buying  their  products  by  threatening  to  under- 
mine them  with  rival  shops.  The  immense  profits  which  the 
great  capitalists  are  enabled  by  these  methods  to  pile  ur> 
annually  constitutes  in  each  case  a  large  fund  for  investment. 
And  a  place  for  investment-  is  not  far  to  seek ;  for  those  who 
are  engaged  in  small  manufacturing  or  business  of  any  kind, 
having  to  pay  a  royalty  on  every  article  used  in  their  business, 
and  finding  their  profits  continually  reduced,  are  therefore 
ready  to  sell  at  a  reduced  price  to  the  trust  combine,  which  by 
application  of  large  scale  methods,  adds  greatly  to  its  holdings 
and  its  profits  and  increases  its  power  to  swallow.  Again  by 
the  uniting  of  a  number  of  big  plants,  the  swallowing  power  is 
vastly  multiplied. 

And  where  is  this  swallowing  to  end?  To  me  there 
can  be  but  one  answer,  and  that  is  that  unless  something  can 
be  done  to  avert  it,  the  time  is  not  very  far  distant  when  some 
mammoth  combine  will  gulp  down  the  last  morsel  and  howl 
because  there  are  no  more  worlds  to  swallow.  And  it  begins 
to  look  very  much  as  though  the  great  "Standard  Oil"  com- 
bine will  surely  be  "it".  When  we  consider  the  vantage 
ground  occupied  by  this  great  octopus,  and  the  power  it 
wields  over  all  wealth,  we  find  that  the  final  swallowing  pro- 
cess has  really  proceeded  much  further  than  at  first  appears ; 
in  fact,  that  practically  all  that  is  left  unswallowed  is  virtually 
in  the  dragon's  mouth,  since  it  is  under  his  control.  To  show 
what  I  mean  I  will  close  this  chapter  with  an  extract  from 
"The  Shameful  Misuse  of  Wealth,"  by  Cleveland  Moffett, 
found  on  page  7  of  "Success  Magazine"  for  January,  1906: 

"Sixteen  years  ago  Thomas  G.  Shearman,  a  distinguished  corpora- 
tion lawyer  and  a  brilliant  writer  on  economic  questions,  prophesied  that 
'within  thirty  years  the  United  States  will  be  substantially  owned  by  less 
than  one  in  five  hundred  of  the  male  population !'  Nor  is  evidence  want- 
ing that  his  words  are  coming  true.  The  land  of  this  country  is  still 
widely  owned,  although  hundreds  of  millions  of  acres  of  its  grazing 
lands,  timber  lands  and  mineral  lands  have  been  shamelessly  stolen  in 
land  grants  and  land  grabs;  but  the  farmers  and  small  producers  are 


24  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  the  railroads,  which,  with  their  two  hundred 
thousand  miles  of  tracks,  their  capitalization  of  over  twelve  billion  (par 
value)  and  their  army  of  five  million  people  dependent  on  them  for  a 
livelihood,  are  practically  controlled  by  nine  men — John  D.  Rockefeller, 
J.  P.  Morgan,  n.  fl.  tiarriman,  George  Gould,  W.  K.  Vanderbilt,  J.  J. 
Hill,  A.  J.  Cassatt,  W.  H.  Moore  and  William  Rockefeller.  And  John 
Moody,  author  and  publisher  of  'Moody's  Manual/  in  his  exhaustive 
and  authoritative  work,  The  Truth  About  Trusts,'  finds  that  in  the 
United  States  to-day  there  are  440  large  industrial,  franchise  and  trans- 
portation trusts  with  a  capitalization  of  over  twenty  thousand  million 
dollars.  Which,  says  the  'Wall  Street  Journal/  is  'one-fifth  of  the  wealth 
of  the  country  and  the  most  powerful  part  of  it,  for  it  is  wealth  under 
such  concentrated  control  that  it  practically  sways  the  whole/  And  Mr. 
Moody  concludes  that  a  score  of  men  practically  control  this  twenty 
billions,  which  is  the  aggregate  of  our  manufacturing  and  transportation 
resources.  They  control  the  avenues  of  distribution  and  the  agencies  for 
transforming  raw  materials  into  finished  products;  so  it  is  plain  that 
these  twenty  men — Rockefeller,  Morgan,  Gould,  Harriman  and  the  rest — 
indirectly  control  nearly  all  the  remaining  wealth  in  the  country,  since 
whatever  comes  out  of  the  ground  or  is  fed  by  it  must  pass  over  their 
lines  of  transit  and  through  their  factories  (and  at  their  terms)  before 
it  can  get  from  the  producer  to  the  consumer.  These  are  signs  of  the 
times !" 


CHAPTER  IV. 
REVIEW  OF  PRESENT  CONDITONS. 

When  we  compare  present  with  past  conditions,  we  find 
much  to  commend.  We  find  that  on  the  whole  man  has  made 
great  advancement.  The  average  of  wealth  per  capita  is  much 
greater  than  at  any  former  period.  In  our  own  country  and 
in  all  parts  of  the  earth  except  where  there  is  an  overcrowded 
population  there  has  come  to  be  little  fear  of  famine.  The 
average  standard  of  living  in  all  those  things  that  go  to  make 
life  enjoyable  is  higher  than  ever  before.  The  average  family 
has  better  food,  better  clothing  and  better  shelter,  better 
schools  and  more  books  and  periodicals  of  all  sorts,  more  pic- 
tures and  more  and  better  musical  instruments ;  and  in  the 
matter  of  travel  and  communication  we  have  made  still 
greater  progress.  Where  a  century  ago  it  required  a  month 
or  two  to  learn  of  the  severe  illness  or  death  of  a  relative  or 
friend,  now  we  may  be  informed  at  once,  and,  stepping  aboard 
the  next  train,  may  be  whirled  away  hundreds,  even  thousands 
of  miles  to  the  bedsides  of  those  who  are  near  and  dear  to  us. 

With  better  education  has  come  a  greater  degree  of  refine- 
ment, higher  ideals,  and  a  much  fuller  appreciation  of  that 
which  is  beautiful  and  good.  While  we  still  hear  of  wars  and 
rumors  of  wars,  and  the  wars  are  of  the  most  destructive  char- 
acter, yet,  on  the  whole,  there  is  far  less  of  rudeness,  coarse- 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  25 

ness  and  fierceness  in  the  average  of  human  nature  as  we  see 
it  to-day. 

In  the  department  of  medical  science,  surgery  and  in  the 
various  means  of  restoring  and  preserving  health,  we  have 
made  great  progress.  The  light  of  modern  investigation  has 
wholly  or  in  part  banished  the  terrors  of  a  number  of  con- 
tagious diseases  that  have  so  often  been  the  scourge  of  society 
in  centuries  past.  Indeed,  so  much  has  been  done  that  the 
average  length  of  human  life,  which  has  been  on  the  gradual 
decline  through  all  past  history,  is  now  said  to  be  decidedly 
rising. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  other  field  of  progress  that  can  show 
a  greater  degree  of  advancement  than  that  which  provides  not 
only  for  the  increase  of  wealth,  but  also  for  alleviating  the 
intensity  of  the  toil  and  the  hardship  of  the  workers.  It 
requires  but  one  word  to  explain  what  I  mean,  and  that  word 
is  "machinery/'  The  very  mention  of  this  word  sets  the  mind 
to  drawing  contrasts;  contrasting  the  wooden  mould  board 
with  our  gang  plow ;  hand  sowing,  with  our  double  disk  drill ; 
the  sickle,  scythe  and  cradle,  with  our  mower,  self  binder, 
header  and  combined  harvester ;  threshing  with  flail  or  tramp- 
ing with  animals,  with  our  modern  traction  steam  rig;  remov- 
ing cotton  seed  by  hand,  with  the  cotton  gin;  the  spinning 
wheel  and  hand  loom,  with  the  factory ;  the  stage  coach  and  ox 
team,  with  our  overland  flyer  and  double  or  triple  header 
freight  train ;  the  pony  express,  with  the  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone, etc.,  etc.  In  all  departments  of  human  industry 
machines  without  limit  have  been  introduced  which  are  calcu- 
lated to  confer  untold  blessings  on  humanity,  in  that  by  their 
use  without  inexhaustible  labor,  there  may  be  produced  a 
plentiful  supply  of  all  necessaries,  and  not  only  necessaries, 
but  an  abundance  of  the  luxuries  of  life. 

In  a  land  like  our  own  with  so  great  an  abundance  and 
variety  of  the  earth's  natural  resources,  it  is  possible  with  our 
modern  labor  saving  appliances  to  produce  an  abundance  o'f  all 
necessaries  and  all  those  luxuries  that  will  help  to  make  life 
fuller  and  happier.  And  so  great  is  the  labor  saved  by  machin- 
ery, that  this  may  be  done  without  overtaxing  the  energies  of 
any  of  the  laborers.  In  fact,  most  of  the  work  is  done  by 
machines.  A  man  guides  the  machine,  and  the  machine  does 
the  work  which  formerly  required  the  labor  of  five,  ten,  twenty, 
fifty  or  one  hundred  men,  and  the  remainder  are  left  to  run 
other  machines,  and  when  all  the  machines  have  been  manned 
there  is  so  large  a  force  left  that  the  work  which  must  be  done 
without  machines  may  be  so  divided  among  them  as  not  to  be 
burdensome  on  any.  And  it  need  no  longer  be  that  children 


26  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

must  be  absent  from  school  with  the  old  time  excuse  of  "staid- 
at-home-diggin'-taters." 

In  the  olden  time  the  farmer  (and  most  of  the  people  then 
were  farmers),  with  his  rude  tools  prepared  the  soil,  planted, 
cultivated,  harvested,  threshed  and  garnered  his  grain.  He 
also  made  many  articles  that  now  come  from  the  factory,  such 
as  shoes  for  his  whole  family.  He  raised  a  few  sheep,  sheared 
them,  washed  the  wool,  the  housewife  picked  it,  and  after  it 
was  carded,  plied  her  wheel,  pacing  back  and  forth  from  side 
to  side  of  the  room,  often  the  only  room  in  the  house,  till  the 
rolls  were  worked  into  yarn.  Then  she  colored  the  yarn. 
Then,  with  her  home  made  loom  she  wove  it  into  cloth.  Then 
she  entered  upon  her  final  task  of  cutting,  fitting  and  sewing 
all  the  clothes  for  the  whole  family,  often  of  ten  or  a  dozen. 
Of  course,  the  knitting  of  mittens  and  stockings  of  all  sizes 
went  along  with  the  rest.  And  besides  all  this  there  was  the 
regular  round  of  cooking,  washing,  caring  for  the  children  in 
sickness  or  health,  soap  making,  which  was  started  with  the 
ash  hopper,  milking  cows  (for  she  was  lucky  if  her  husband 
found  time  to  milk  even  part  of  the  cows),  making  butter, 
attending  to  chickens,  turkeys  and  geese,  including  the  picking 
of  the  last  named,  and  many  other  things  too  numerous  to 
mention.  Of  course,  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  and  all 
through  the  autumn  and  early  winter,  often  all  winter,  she 
worked  far  into  the  night  weaving,  making  new  garments  and 
mending  the  old  that  they  might  hold  out  till  the  new  ones 
were  completed. 

At  the  other  side  of  the  big  fireplace  making  or  mending 
shoes  or  harness  or  making  an  axe  or  a  hoe  handle,  or  at  some 
other  odd  job  sat  her  husband.  Or,  perhaps,  he  spent  most  of 
the  evening  caring  for  the  stock,  for  every  day  was  needed  to 
gather  corn,  cut  and  haul  fodder,  cut  and  haul  wood,  make  and 
haul  rails,  build  fences,  make  sheds,  etc. 

There  was  generally  no  time  nor  money  for  expensive 
barns  or  fine  houses,  and  generally  the  clothes  were  but  plain 
home  spun  plainly  made,  no  flips,  no  flounces,  no  frills.  Yet. 
as  a  rule,  the  people  were  comparatively  happy,  simply 
because  they  knew  no  better,  were  happy  in  the  sense  that 
they  were  not  unhappy.  But  where  is  the  farmer  now  thai 
would  like  to  go  back  to  the  old  log  cabin  days  and  methods: 
And  where,  oh,  where  is  the  miss  just  fresh  from  college  01 
high  school,  or  even  the  common  school,  who  would  be  willing 
to  tackle  such  a  proposition? 

No,  we  do  not  desire  to  return  to  that  mode  of  living.  W 
have  learned  a  better  way.  We  are  ready  to  shower  blessing 
upon  the  host  of  inventors  who  have  brought  to  light  th 
means  by  which  it  is  possible  for  the  whole  people  to  enjo 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  27 

to  the  full  the  material  bounties  and  sweetness  of  life,  and  not 
only  so,  but,  having  leisure  for  intellectual  culture,  may  come 
into  that  higher  and  fuller  enjoyment  which  results  from  the 
mind  being  expanded  and  awakened  to  the  contemplation  of 
all  that  is  high,  and  noble,  and  grand,  and  beautiful,  and  pure, 
and  good,  in  history,  in  art,  in  religion,  in  science,  in  philo- 
sophy and  in  the  world  of  nature  generally. 

Yes,  when  we  contemplate  these  things  we  are  led  to 
exclaim,  "What  wonderful  progress!  How  fortunate  the 
people  of  this  generation !"  But  wait.  There  is  another  side 
to  the  picture.  There  are  two  sides  to  this  sheet,  a  bright 
side  and  a  dark  side.  We  have  reached  the  bottom  of  the 
bright  page,  and  will  continue  this  topic  where  it  belongs,  on 

The  Dark  Page.  With  a  population  of  over  80,000,000, 
and  an  estimated  aggregate  of  wealth  of  about  $100,000,- 
000,000,  our  average  of  wealth  per  capita  is  about  $1,200,  or 
$6,000  for  the  average  family  of  five.  The  working  man  would 
figure  that,  with  that  amount,  by  working  very  moderately  he 
would  have  a  very  comfortable  living  for  his  family.  But 
unfortunately  for  the  worker,  the  wealth  is  not  so  evenly  dis- 
tributed. Instead  of  $6,000  per  family  the  average  wealth  of 
nine-tenths  of  the  families  of  the  United  States  is  not  far  from 
one-tenth  of  this  sum,  or  $600,  while  half  of  the  people  have 
practically  nothing; -while  one  per  cent  of  the  people  have 
ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the  wealth,  five  thousand  have  nearly 
one-sixth ;  ten  men  have  one-fiftieth  and  one  family  has  one 
one-hundredth  part  of  our  national  wealth.  So  it  seems  that 
our  labor  saving  proposition  does  not  work  so  well  as  it 
might;  that  instead  of  machinery  being  a  blessing  to  all  it  is 
but  the  direst  curse  to  a  large  part  of  the  people  of  our  fair 
land.  Though  the  average  standard  of  living  has  risen,  yet 
the  rise  is  very  small  compared  with  what  it  ought  to  be,  and, 
leaving  out  of  the  account  the  luxurious  living  of  the  very 
wealthy,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  the  toilers 
of  all  past  generations  have  had  a  great  deal  of  hardship  to 
endure,  it  might  be  doubtful  whether  the  average  lot  of  the 
masses  had  improved  at  all.  Certain  it  is  that  whatever  may 
be  said  of  labor  saving  machinery  as  a  blessing  to  humanity, 
yet,  compared  with  what  it  should  be,  it  is  certainly  a  signal 
failure.  If  you  have  any  doubt  upon  this  point,  go  and  read,  if 
you  have  not  already,  such  writings  as  Hunter's  "Poverty," 
"The  Shameful  Misuse  of  Wealth/'  by  Cleveland  Moffett.  and 
the  published  accounts  of  those  who  have  investigated  the  use 
of  child  labor  in  the  factories  of  the  south.  Books  and  maga- 
zines describing  these  things  are  easily  found.  Read  them. 
You  will  probably  be  filled  with  indignation  by  the  stories  of 
the  ruthless  tyranny  and  unconscionable  cruelty  of  capitalistic 


28  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

greed.     You  will  probably  become  heart-sick  at  the  tales  of 
hardship,  squalid  misery,  wretchedness  and  woe. 

When  you  stop  and  think,  unless  you  have  studied  along 
this  line  before,  you  probably  will  be  ready  to  say :  "Yes,  I  can 
see  that  one  reason  for  so  much  poverty  is  that  the  rich  waste 
it  upon  themselves,  but  why  should  there  be  land  lying  idle, 
machines  lying  idle,  and  millions  of  people  willing  and  able  to 
work,  idle  and  living  like  rats?"  You  probably  understand 
that  man  will  do  anything  for  money,  but  fail  to  see  where 
the  money  comes  in.  While  I  regard  the  facts  and  not  the 
reason  for  their  existence  as  the  matter  of  chief  importance  in 
this  case,  yet,  since  the  reason  is  so  simple,  we  will  give  it  a 
short  space  and  then  pass  on. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  labor  is  a  commodity  subject  to 
competition  and  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  the  same  as 
-any  other  commodity.  The  more  plentiful  the  supply,  the 
lower  the  price;  and  since  all  articles  of  wealth  are  produced 
for  profit  and  not  for  use,  it  follows  that  the  more  plentiful 
the  supply  of  labor  the  greater  the  rofit.  Of  two  competing 
establishments,  the  one  that  hires  its  work  done  the  cheaper 
comes  out  ahead.  Of  course,  in  such  a  contest  the  out-of-work 
can  expect  nothing  when  the  rivals  combine  and  find  it  to 
their  interest  to  stop  part  of  their  machinery,  one  or  more 
mills  for  instance,  in  order  to  avoid  an  over  production,  that  is, 
the  production  of  a  quantity  greater  than  that  which  would 
bring  them  the  greatest  profit.  It  might  seem  at  first  glance, 
that  it  could  be  easily  arranged  for  the  surplus  workers  to 
take  charge  of  the  idle  machinery  and  produce  what  they 
themselves  could  consume.  No  doubt  it  could  be  done;  but  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not.  You  see,  it  is  not  business.  In  the 
first  place,  the  surplus  workers,  of  course,  have  no  money. 
They  must  be  paid  in  the  product.  The  company  has  no  use 
for  part  of  the  product ;  for  their  other  machines  make  all  the 
goods  that  they  can  sell ;  and  to  give  them  all  the  product 
would  tend  to  make  their  other  workers  dissatisfied.  Then, 
though  the  capitalists  might  see  that  the  workers  repaired  the 
machines  or  made  new  ones,  yet  it  would  require  some  can 
and  attention  on  their  part,  and  they  would  not  be  likely  to 
take  so  much  pains.  Lastly  they  would  not,  because  it  would 
diminish  the  supply  of  labor  and  tend  to  raise  the  price,  the 
very  thing  they  desire  to  avoid.  No,  no.  Things  are  not  dont 
that  way.  That  would  not  be  business  you  know.  Business 
is  business  and  must  be  done  according  to  business  principles. 

Panics.  As  we  have  observed,  articles  of  wealth  are  pro 
-duced  for  profit.  The  man  would  be  called  foolish  who  would 
undertake  a  business  with  no  hope  of  making  a  profit  out  o 
it.  In  the  production  of  wealth  of  all  kinds  in  a  nation 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  29 

certain  amount  is  paid  out  in  wages.  The  wage  workers  buy 
to  the  extent  of  their  wages,  and  the  money  ail  goes  back  to 
the  producers,  so-called,  the  capitalists.  The  farmers  and 
other  small  producers  of  the  raw  material  buy  to  the  extent 
of  the  net  proceeds  resulting  from  the  sales  of  such  raw 
material,  that  is,  what  they  have  left  after  settling  all  bills 
for  wages,  such  net  proceeds  being  usually  no  more  than 
ordinary  wages  and  often  very  low  wages.  What  the  capi- 
talists have  left  of  the  manufactured  product  is  called  profit. 
Unless  they  can  exchange  it  for  wealth  in  the  form  of  capital, 
this  surplus  is  of  no  value  to  them,  and  becomes  a  dead 
weight  in  their  hands.  There  are  several  ways  by  which  this 
may  be  done : 

1.  A  limited  amount  may  be  sold  to  the  small  producers 
beyond  what  their  net  income  will  purchase,  they  procuring 
the  money  to  pay  for  it  by  loan  secured  by  mortgage  on  farm 
or  other  property,  and  this  is  practically  an  investment  of  the 
larger   or  exploiting  capitalists   in   the   property  of  the   very 
small  capitalists,  notably  the  farmers.    I  say  a  limited  amount. 
The  farmers  are  usually  more  or  less  cautious  about  purchas- 
ing when  every  additional  purchase  means  an  enlargement  of 
the   mortgage,  and  generally   wish   afterward   that  they   had 
been  much  more  cautious. 

2.  Whatever  surplus  of  labor  there  is  in  the  country  may 
be   employed  in  improving  the  plants  or  providing  the  lux- 
uries of  the  capitalists,  the  wages  paid  the  workers  going  to 
reduce  the  surplus  product  by  that  much. 

3.  If  a  foreign  market  can  be  found,  part  or  all  of  the 
surplus  may  be  shipped  to  a  foreign  country  and  exchanged 
for  articles  to  be  used  in  improvements  and  luxuries  at  home, 
or  for  investment  in  foreign  capital,  or  for  money  which  may 
be  invested  either  at  home  or  abroad. 

4.  Lastly,    this    surplus     product    may   be    given   away, 
either  for  or  without  a  consideration.     It  may  be  given  to  the 
most  influential  of  the  people  in  order  to  secure  their  support, 
or  it  may  be  given  to  the  whole  people  with  or  without  the 
same  object  in  view. 

If,  from  any  cause  (and  the  causes  are  multitudinous),  the 
surplus  piles  up  and  no  market  can  be  found,  then  there  is 
only  one  thing  to  do.  The  mills  must  close.  The  workers 
must  sit  around  and  eat  charity  soup  till  the  surplus  product 
is  used  up  or  wasted  or  an  outlet  is  found  for  it.  This  is  what 
is  called  a  panic.  The  financial  loss  always  falls  heaviest  upon 
the  debtor  class  generally,  and  especially  upon  the  farmers, 
stockmen  and  other  small  producers,  who  supply  the  raw 
material,  and  in  this  form  and  in  their  hands  most  of  the  sur- 
plus remains.  The  great  capitalist  stops  short  when  his 


3o  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

market  fails.  He  sells  to  the  working  man  till  he  gets  all  his 
money.  He  sells  to  the  small  producers  till  he  gets  all  their 
money ;  but  these  are,  many  of  them,  in  debt.  They  have  made 
extensive  improvements  and  bought  machinery.  They  must 
have  money.  They  apply  to  the  bank.  The  -banker  shakes  his 
head.  It  is  not  to  be  had.  "Oh,  yes,  the  security  is  gilt-edge, 
but  the  fact  is,  there  is  no  money  in  circulation."  The  banker 
is  not  afraid  of  the  loan.  The  great  capitalist  is  not  afraid  of 
it;  but  money  always  flows  to  the  point  that  promises  the 
greatest  profit,  and  for  this  reason  it  is  now  reserved  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  in  the  snaps,  and  when  they  have  all  been 
gathered  in,  then  it  is  reported  that  times  are  improving  very 
decidedly,  for  the  banks  are  beginning  to  loan  money.  So,  all 
those  whose  fortunes  have  not  been  swallowed  seek  relief 
from  their  crippled  condition,  and,  as  business  presently  starts 
up,  they  are  found  moving  forward  with  a  greater  debt  than 
before.  Such  is  a  panic.  It  is  often  the  case  that  the  workers 
would  be  able  to  consume  all  the  surplus  product  if  only  they 
had  the  wherewith  to  buy. 

In  a  country  so  rich  in  natural  resources  as  is  ours,  where 
people  are  enterprising  and  industrious,  and  where  there  is  so 
much  labor  saving  machinery,  panics  are  the  inevitable  result 
whenever  foreign  markets  fail.  The  foreign  market  does  not 
fill  the  bill,  unless  the  people  buy  and  consume  more  of  our 
products  than  we  buy  and  consume  of  theirs.  When  they  do 
their  money  flows  out  of  their  country  into  ours,  and  the  only 
way  they  can  get  it  back  is  to  borrow  it  of  our  capitalists  by 
mortgaging  their  lands  or  other  forms  of  wealth,  or  selling 
some  of  it  outright  to  them.  It  is  evident  that  people  cannot 
go  on  long  in  this  way  without  becoming  bankrupt.  All 
enlightened  nations  have  become  too  wise  to  pursue  such  a 
course.  Even  benighted  China  is  awakening  to  a  sense  of 
her  danger.  Just  now  the  nations  are  ransacking  the  remotest 
corners  of  the  earth  in  search  of  markets.  In  the  intensity  of 
the  struggle  they  are  jostling  each  other,  grumbling,  growling, 
threatening,  and  occasionally  fighting  weak  nations.  It  is  too 
expensive  fighting  strong  ones ;  and  then,  war  has  become  so 
terrible  that  the  people  recoil  from  it.  Nevertheless,  military 
and  naval  preparations  of  the  great  nations  move  steadily  on, 
and  unless  the  people  come  to  realize  more  fully  that  every 
war  is  "a  rich  man's  war  and  a  ooor  man's  fi^ht,"  and  do  like 
the  working  people  of  some  of  the  European  nations  have 
already  begun  to  do,  refuse  to  fieht  each  other,  there  will  be 
occasional  instances  of  nations  undertaking  to  crush  others 
that  are  weaker,  or  supposed  to  be.  Now  and  then  the 
aggressor  will  miscalculate  and  draw  an  elephant  as  Russia 
did  when  she  tried  to  crush  Japan.  With  all  the  nations 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  31 

sruggling  for  markets,  and  not  markets  enough  to  go  round,  it 
is  not  strange  that  the  struggle  occasionally  takes  on  the 
form  of  an  appeal  to  arms. 

When  the  markets  fail  our  capitalists  could  avert  a  panic 
if  they  would  by  keeping  the  mills  running  and  increase  the 
wages  of  the  workers  and  the  price  of  raw  material,  which  is 
virtually  wages,  or  reducing  the  price  of  the  finished  product 
till  the  wages  and  the  price  paid  for  the  raw  material  would 
buy  all  the  finished  product,  excepting  what  the  capitalists 
themselves  consume.  But  again,  ''that  would  not  be  business, 
you  know."  The  capitalists  are  not  likely  to  he  so  foolish  so 
long  as  there  are  any  small  producers,  any  little  fish  left, 
unless  they  come  to  fear  the  people.  It  is  thought  by  some 
that  under  the  pressure  of  this  fear  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  pre- 
vented a  panic  in  1903.  It  is  likely  that  as  the  people  become 
awakened  on  this  subject,  the  capitalists  will  proceed  more 
cautiously  and  leisurely  in  their  operations ;  that  they  will  not 
grab  quite  so  voraciously  for  "snaps,"  but  the  swallowing  will 
go  right  on,  if  somewhat  more  slowly,  none  the  less  surely. 

I  know  that  the  foregoing  theory  of  panics,  called  the  glut 
theory,  is  rejected  by  some  writers  as  unscientific.  Possibly  it 
is ;  and  I  may  be  like  the  countryman  who  asked  a  physician 
why  hanging  kills  people,  and  after  being  given  a  long,  scien- 
tific definition,  said,  "No,  no!  That  isn't  it  at  all.  It  is  just 
because  the  rope  is  so  short  that  the  feet  cannot  reach  the 
ground."  Now,  whatever  scientific  reasons  may  exist,  it 
seems  to  me  that  as  hanging  cannot  kill  so  long  as  the  feet 
reach  the  ground,  so,  neither  will  the  factories  close  so  long  as 
the  manufacturers  can  find  a  market  for  their  goods.  I  admit, 
however,  the  possibility  of  a  little  discrepancy  in  this  parallel 
in  cases  where  factories  are  compelled  to  close  on  account  of 
a  money  stringency  produced  by  other  causes. 

But  whatever  original  causes  may  have  operated  to  pro- 
duce the  glut,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  present  intense  struggle 
among  the  nations  for  markets  g-oes  to  prove  that  it  is  the 
immediate  cause  of  panics,  and  that  it  may  be  remedied  by 
procuring  a  sufficient  outlet. 


CHAPTER  V. 
REVIEW  OF  PRESENT  CONDITIONS  (Continued). 

To  illustrate  the  baleful  effects  of  concentrated  wealth 
and  its  consequent  poverty,  we  quote  again  from  Cleveland 
Moffett's  "Shameful  Misuse  of  Wealth": 

"It  is  interesting  to  consider  how  much  richer  the  rich  will  get, 
and  I  may  remark  here  that  there  is  no  need  to  inquire  how  much 


32  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

poorer  the  poor  will  get.  If  they  are  to  live  at  all  they  cannot 
get  much  poorer.  What  greater  burden  of  poverty  can  we  put  on  the 
four  million  American  families  who  to-day  with  their  best  toil  can 
gather  less  than  four  hundred  dollars  a  year?  What  more  can  we  take 
from  them  than  we  have  already  taken?  The  Massachusetts  Bureau  of 
Labor  has  collected  statistics  showing  how  these  poor  families  spend 
their  pitiful  incomes.  It  appears  that  $3.88  each  week  goes  for  food. 
Shall  we  cut  that  down?  Or  shall  we  cut  down  the  $2.91  a  month  they 
spend  for  clothing?  or  the  $7.50  a  year  they  spend  for  furniture  and 
household  furnishings?  Or  the  $7.00  a  month  they  pay  for  foul,  dark 
rooms  in  a  tainted  tenement?  Think  what  it  means  to  support  a  family 
in  a  city  on  four  hundred  dollars  a  year,  to  bring  up  children,  to  pro- 
vide for  sickness,  to  furnish  pleasures  on  four  hundred  dollars  a  year ! 

"And  these  are  not  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  these  are  self  respecting 
laborers,  producers  of  the  national  wealth ;  there  are  millions  of  others 
whose  lot  is  worse  than  theirs — ten  million,  Robert  Hunter  estimates,  in 
helpless  poverty,  out  of  work,  out  of  health,  out  of  heart  with  the  world, 
broken  driftwood,  vagrants,  tramps — what  shall  we  take  from  them? 

"So  the  question  simply  is  how  much  richer  will  the  rich  get?  Will 
any  limit  be  set  to  these  vast  fortunes?  Are  billionaires  to  become  as 
abundant  in  the  twentieth  century  as  millionaires  were  in  the  nineteenth? 
Why  not?  We  have  scarcely  scraped  the  outside  crust  of  our  national 
resources.  What  our  land  and  industries  produce  to-day  is  nothing  to 
what  they  will  produce,  and  our  present  population  is  but  a  small  part  of 
what  it  will  be.  By  1960,  we  are  assured,  the  national  wealth  that  seems 
so  enormous  now  (say  a  hundred  billions  in  1905)  will  have  increased  to 
nearly  a  thousand  billions,  and  by  1990  to  over  two  thousand  billions. 
Such  are  the  conclusions  of  experts  in  financial  statistics,  who  also  say 
that  under  the  present  competitive  system  nearly  two-thirds  of  this  vast 
increase  in  our  national  wealth  will  be  permanently  absorbed  by  a  few 
thousand  very  rich  families.  Which  means  that  whatever  may  befall  indi- 
vidual millionaires  or  individual  sons  or  grandsons  of  millionaires,  the 
rich  as  a  class  will  continue  to  grow  richer,  much  richer,  so  that  in  thirty 
or  forty  years,  under  existing  conditions,  the  five  thousand  richest  Ameri- 
cans, instead  of  having  fifteen  billions  between  them,  as  to-day,  may  have 
fifty  or  a  hundred  billions.  And  still  the  mass  of  the  people  will  have 
practically  nothing,  still  hundreds  of  thousands  with  bitter  toil  will  barely 
secure  the  necessities  of  life  and  millions  will  be  crushed  and  broken  in 
the  struggle. 

"So,  if  present  conditions  continue  one  looks  ahead  vainly  for  some 
brightening  in  the  picture  of  our  poverty  and  wealth,  our  misery  and 
affluence,  our  luxury  and  want.  Things  will  be  worse,  not  better,  and 
every  year  will  show  a  more  painful  contrast  between  the  few  who  have 
everything  and  the  many  who  lack  everything.  Ponder  these  words  from 
that  hard  financial  compendium  of  Waldron's  already  quoted  (p.  102)  : 
'Little  wonder  then  that  the  rich  are  rapidly  growing  richer,  when  but 
one-twentieth  of  the  families,  they  are  receiving  one-third  of  the  nation's 
annual  income  and  are  able  to  absorb  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  annual 
increase  made  in  the  wealth  of  the  nation.'  Think  what  that  means  to 
the  poor! 

"What  it  means  to  the  rich  is  that  they  will  find  it  more  arid  more 
difficult  to  spend  their  enormous  incomes  and  will  set  a  faster  and  madder 
pace  of  luxury  and  extravagance.  All  the  signs  point  that  way,  and  after 
all  what  else  can  they  do  with  their  money.  They  cannot  eat  it  nor  hang 
it  around  their  necVs  (except  some  odd  millions  in  trinkets),  nor  buy 
seats  in  heaven  with  it.  There  is  nothing  to  do  but  flaunt  it  before  the 
nation  .in  palaces  and  gorgeous  fetes,  in  costly  laces  and  plates  of  gold, 
in  furious  follies  that  seem  to  cry  out:  'See.  we  are  rich,  rich,  rich,  and 
you  are  poor.'  Nor  can  any  man  say  what  will  be  the  echo  of  that  cry !" 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  33 

When  we  compare  present  conditions  with  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  equal  ownership  already  stated,  together 
with  its  derived  principle,  "Wealth  belongs  to  those  who  pro- 
duce it,"  we  find  that  they  do  not  in  any  manner  correspond; 
for  we  find  the  earth's  resources  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  while 
the  laborers,  who  are  the  actual  producers  of  wealth,  have  very 
little  of  it. 

As  heretofore  observed  it  is  a  fact  well  understood  that 
the  agreed  price  is  far  from  being  a  fair  basis  of  exchange, 
for  the  reason  that  one  of  the  parties  may,  and  often  does, 
take  advantage  of  the  other's  necessities.  Political  economists 
have  all  along  recognized  the  fact  that  the  competitive  system 
does  not  furnish  exact  justice  in  all  individual  cases,  but  it  has 
been  depended  upon  to  supply  approximate  justice  in  its  gen- 
eral application.  Time  has  shown  the  mistake,  and  the  degree 
of  approximation  has  continued  to  deviate  more  and  more 
from  the  line  of  strict  justice,  and  now  that  the  trusts  have 
swept  away  the  supposed  approximation  there  is  nothing  left 
but  what?  Ruthless  robbery  shall  I  call  it?  Well,  yes.  That 
is  surely  what  it  is.  P>ut  come,  let  us  not  be  too  hard  on  the 
poor  millionaire.  Possibly  he  may  deserve  about  as  much  pity 
as  blame.  If  the  force  of  accidental  circumstances  has  caused 
him  to  grow  up  before  society  a  dangerous  maniac,  sowing 
destruction  broadcast,  wrecking  the  lives  of  multiplied 
millions  of  human  beings,  sending  forth  into  millions  of  homes 
the  scourge  of  abject  want  and  misery,  and  inflicting  upon 
all  the  people  of  our  fair  land  a  degree  of  injustice  and  hard- 
ship and  anxiety  ,  that  greatly  mars  their  happiness,  then 
society  is  principally  to  blame  if  it  does  not  use  its  utmost 
endeavor  to  restrain  him  and  remedy  the  evil.  And  what  are 
most,  if  not  all,  our  great  capitalists  but  maniacs,  mono- 
maniacs, who  have  studied  so  long  and  with  such  intensity 
the  one  subject,  profits,  that  they  have  become  money  mad 
and  entirely  reckless  of  the  welfare  of  their  fellowmen? 

But  what  is  the  real  action  that  has  produced  such  baleful 
results?  Perhaps  one  of  the  first  rights  recognized  by  human 
beings  was  the  right  of  each  one  to  the  product  of  his  own 
labor,  and  growing  immediately  out  of  this  was  the  recognized 
right  to  exchange  this  product  by  mutual  agreement,  and  this 
developed  into  the  agreed  price  as  the  basis  of  right  in  all 
commercial  exchanges,  which  has  been  recognized  and 
adhered  to  by  nearly  all  past  civilizations.  As  we  have  seen 
this  is  a  very  defective  standard.  At  the  first  it  was  attended 
by  two  principal  evils.  First,  it  permitted  one  person  to  take 
advantage  of  another's  necessities,  and,  secondly,  it  permitted 
the  strong  minded  to  take  advantage  of  the  weak  minded. 
Under  competition  both  these  evils  increased  greatly. 


34  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

Under  trust  domination  they  are  so  greatly  aggravated  that 
there  is  practically  no  limit  until  the  utmost  of  human  endur- 
ance is'reached.  These  two  evils  have  been  regarded  all  along 
as  necessary  evils.  Jn  all  the  centuries  of  man's  rise  from 
savagery  society  has  recognized  as  a  right  belonging  to  each 
person,  that  he 'might  buy  for  as  little  as  he  could  induce  or 
persuade  the  other  fellow  to  take  or  sell  for  as  much  as  he 
would  for  any  reason  consent  to  give,  without  regard  to  any 
hardship  it  might  inflict  upon  the  other,  provided  there  is  no 
direct  physical  compulsion.  So  it  is  a  fact  that  cannot  be 
controverted  that  a  very  large  part  of  the  evils  that  now  afflict 
us  are  the  result  of  the  legitimate  exercise  of  this  principle 
we  call  a  right,  while  the  remaining  part  results  mostly  from 
abuses  that  are  the  natural  outgrowth  of  it. 

A  young  man  fresh  from  college,  his  face  beaming  with 
intelligence,  his  open  countenace  the  very  impersonation  of 
honesty  and  integrity,  his  mother's  kiss  upon  his  forehead,  and 
her  loving  "God  bless  you,  my  boy,"  ringing  in  his  ears,  is 
whirled  away  to  the  great  city  where  he  embarks  in  business. 
Like  nearly  every  other  young  man,  he  starts  out  to  make  a 
big  fortune.  And  it  must  be  all  honest  money.  He  does  not 
hesitate  on  that  point.  He  is  careful  to  meet  every  obligation 
promptly  and  expects  the  same  from  others.  He  is  in  for  profits. 
Therefore  he  says,  "I  buy  as  cheaply  as  I  can.  If  the  other 
fellow  does  not  want  to  accept  my  offer  let  him  sell  to  some- 
one else.  I  sell  for  the  most  I  can  get.  If  the  purchaser  can 
do  better  let  him  do  it.  I  do  not  hinder  him.  I  employ  the 
laborer  at  the  lowest  possible  wage,  and  get  the  most  work  I 
can  from  him.  If  he  is  not  satisfied  he  may  quit  at  any  time. 
And,  besides,  this  is  the  rule  of  my  competitors  and  I  must 
follow  it  or  go  out  of  business.  I  know  there  is  hardship  and 
suffering  on  every  hand,  and  it  makes  my  heart  bleed  to  see  it, 
but  what  can  I  do  to  prevent  it  but  become  a  pauper  myself?" 

He  comes,  however,  to  have  a  vague,  indefinite  feeling  of 
guiltiness,  and  that  the-e  is  an  injustice  being  perpetrated 
somewhere,  though  his  reason  fails  to  show  who  is  the  guilty 
party.  In  fact,  on  reviewing  his  action  he  finds  that  he  has 
adhered  strictly  to  the  line  of  his  recognized  rights.  So  he 
goes  on,  his  conscience  bein<*-  wakened  somewhat,  especially 
if  he  has  been  successful  in  business,  for  success  means  profits, 
and  profits  mean  an  increased  appetite  for  more  profits,  and 
this  appetite  for  profits  helps  to  smother  the  conscience.  This 
intense  craving  impels  him  forward  and  causes  him  to  forget, 
at  least  partially,  the  misery  about  him,  and,  to  say  the  legist 
of  it,  the  process  is  a  decidcdlv  hardening  one.  Presently  he 
comes  up  against  another  phase  of  commercial  life.  H^e- 
tofore,  when  he  has  found  the  other  fellow  in  a  pinch  fo 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  35 

money,  and  "must  have  it,"  and  no  one  else  to  buy  his  wares, 
he  has  exercised  his  acknowledged  right  to  run  the  price  to 
the  lowest  limit;  he  has  followed  the  same  principle  in  selling 
and  in  the  employment  of  labor,  and  he  has  often  made  use  of 
his  own  superior  knowledge  and  intellectual  training  in  his 
dealings  with  those  less  favored  in  this  respect.  This  was  his 
acknowledged  right,  was  perfectly  legitimate.  But  he  has 
never  purposely  done  anything  to  create  or  increase  the  other's 
necessities.  Neither  has  he  ever  resorted  to  falsehood  in  order 
to  deceive  him  into  doing  what  he  could  not  otherwise  be 
induced  to  do.  True,  he  has  always  kept  his  own  counsel, 
which  was  also  his  admitted  right.  Now  he  has  come  to  a 
point  where,  by  a  skillful  movement  on  the  commercial 
checkerboard,  he  may  heap  a  necessity  upon  the  other  which 
will  compel  him  to  buy  or  sell  to  his  own  advantage.  Perhaps 
the  other  fellow  is  his  business  rival.  Maybe  he  has  played 
this  same  game  on  him.  In  any  case,  his  competitors  follow 
the  rule  and  he  must  follow  it  too  or  fall  behind  in  the  race. 
His  conscience  has  become  less  assertive.  His  appetite  for 
profits  and  the  business  pressure  have  become  stronger;  he 
has  become  accustomed  to  the  suffering  about  him ;  he  takes 
another  step.  And  so  he  goes  on  step  by  step,  his  conscience 
gradually  yielding,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little.  The  soul 
dwindles  away  to  a  mere  speck.  Selfishness  finally  acquires 
full  sway  and  manifests  itself  in  crying  out,  "More  profits! 
More  profits!"  Thus  the  pure  and  noble  youth  has  falK-n  a 
victim  to  our  nefarious  system,  has  become  transformed  into 
a  veritable  demon,  a  money  mad  maniac,  the  enemy  and 
scourge  of  society. 

I  know  it  is  said  that  our  great  captains  of  industry  have 
performed  a  most  important  and  beneficent  function,  and  that 
the  evils  that  afflict  society  are  necessary  evils  and  could  not 
have  been  avoided.  Well,  be  it  so.  I  have  no  desire  to  dis- 
cuss this  phase  of  the  subject  so  far  as  the  past  is  concerned. 
There  can  no  good  come  of  "crying  over  spilt  milk,"  nor  in 
spending  time  trying  to  place  the  responsibility  for  the  spilling1. 
But,  drawing  the  mantle  of  charity  over  the  past,  looking 
backward  just  long  enough  to  get  our  bearings,  and  standing 
in  the  present,  the  threshhold  between  the  past  and  the  future, 
let  us  plan  for  the  future.  Taking  society  as  we  find  it,  regard- 
ing present  conditions  as  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  system, 
which,  under  all  the  circumstances,  may  have  been  a  fortunate 
incident,  an  important  factor  in  man's  social  progress,  and 
ascribing  neither  praise  nor  blame  to  the  holders  of  wealth, 
let  us  examine  the  facts  as  we  find  them.  Let  us  then  see  if 
we  can  devise  some  remedy  for  the  evils  that  afflict  us,  the 
application  of  which  will,  to  some  extent,  substitute  justice 


36  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

for  injustice,  plenty  for  poverty,  equal  opportunity  for  special 
privileges,  virtue  for  vice  and  happiness  for  misery. 

As  before  stated,  the  earth  with  all  its  resources  naturally 
belongs  to  the  whole  people  and  not  to  a  select  few.  Man 
requires  air,  water  and  the  products  of  the  earth.  Deprive 
him  of  any  of  these  and  he  dies.  If  a  great  corporation  were 
to  gain  possession  of  the  air  and  lay  tribute  upon  all  who 
breathe,  it  would  be  no  worse,  no  more  unjust  than  the  very 
wealthy  getting  possession  of  the  earth,  as  they  have  most  of 
it,  and  laying  tribute  upon  the  people  who  draw  their  susten- 
ance therefrom.  Since  wealth  belongs  to  those  "who  produce 
it,  and  since  the  very  wealthy  produce  very  little  of  it  them- 
selves, it  follows,  therefore,  that  the  ownership  by  a  select 
few  of  most  of  the  earth  with  its  natural  resources,  as  well  as 
most  of  the  products  of  man's  labor  is  simply  an  usurpation. 

If  our  reason  had  failed  to  reveal  the  points  of  injustice  in 
our  system,  the  result  would  demonstrate  very  clearly  the  fact 
that  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  injustice  somewhere.  It 
bcomes  clear  that  the  great  bulk  of  wealth  is  held  by  persons 
who  have  not  earned  it.  They  therefore  hold  by  sufferance  of 
the  law,  and  society  has  a  perfect  moral  right  to  appropriate 
it  for  the  general  welfare.  In  fact,  the  proposition  that 
"Human  welfare  is  the  highest  basis  of  right,"  is  recognized 
by  leading  political  economists,  and  has  become  too  well 
settled  to  be  controverted.  We  hear  much  of  "vested  rights,"  as 
though  it  were  the  worst  of  sacrilege  to  speak  of  them  except 
with  the  most  profound  respect.  But  such  rights  are  only 
legal  rights,  rights  conferred  by  the  law,  and  when  the  people 
decide  that  the  law  needs  changing,  the  "vested  rights"  may 
soon  become  invested  wrongs. 

Sometimes  we  hear  people  say,  "Oh,  they  are  too  lazy  to 
work.  If  they  would  go  to  work  like  other  people  they  might 
have  something."  Here  let  it  be  remembered  that  I  am  not 
defending  the  tramp,  who  by  reason  of  his  shiftlessness  or  dis- 
couragement caused  by  his  degraded  condition,  avoids  work ; 
but  it  is  well  known  that  the  holders  of  great  fortunes  perform 
practically  no  productive  labor.  There  are,  then,  two  idle 
classes,  the  idle  rich  and  the  idle  poor.  And  since  all  wealth 
is  the  product  of  labor's  hand,  a  very  little  reflection  develops 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  class  between  that  produces  all  that 
they  themselves  consume,  and  also  all  that  is  consumed  by  the 
two  idle  classes.  Since,  then,  the  wealth  belongs  to  those  who 
produce  it,  this  last  class  has  been  robbed  on  both  sides. 
What  the  tramp  manages  to  get  without  work  is  so  small  that 
it  is  hardly  worth  considering.  On  the  other  hand  the  rob- 
bery assumes  the  most  astounding  proportions,  consisting,  not 
alone  of  what  the  idle  rich  consume  in  necessaries  and  wanton 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  37 

luxuries,  but  by  far  the  greater  portion  going  to  make  up  their 
enormous  profits.  Again,  let  me  assure  the  reader  that  I  use 
the  term  "robbery"  because  that  is  what  it  amounts  to,  with- 
out intending  any  reflection  upon  anyone.  My  quarrel  is 
against  the  system,  not  the  men  who  are  its  victims.  I  realize 
that  many  of  the  men  whom  the  system  makes  actual  robbers 
are  men  of  good  intentions,  and  not  infrequently  of  fairly  high 
ideals. 

Having,  as  I  hope,  discussed  the  underlying  principles  of 
man's  social  development,  and  the  conditions  that  now  sur- 
round us  sufficiently  to  give  the  reader  a  fair  comprehension 
of  our  present  industrial  system,  let  us  pause  and  inquire,  what 
OL  1.he  future? 

First  let  us  inquire^  what  will  be  the  probable  outcome  if 
society  continues  to  drift  on  in  its  present  channel?  After 
studying  trust  development,  as  set  forth  in  Chapter  III.,  it  is 
apparent  that  if  we  continue  in  the  present  channel  some  great 
oligarchy  of  wealth  having  overthrown,  trampled  under  foot 
and  destroyed  commercially  all  the  other  great  combinations, 
will  sit  enthroned,  enjoying  the  fat  of  the  land,  and,  guided  by 
its  interests  and  its  whims,  will  distribute  husks  and  crusts 
and  skimmed  milk  to  the  people,  as  seemeth  it  best. 

To  show  that  the  "Standard  Oil"  group  are  making  strong 
calculations  on  being  the  conquerors,  I  insert  here  an  extract 
from  "Frenzied  Finance,"  by  Thomas  W.  Lawson : 

"The  success  of  'Standard  Oil'  is  largely  due  to  two  things — the 
loyalty  of  its  members  to  each  other  and  to  'Standard  Oil,'  and  the  pun- 
ishment of  its  enemies.  Each  member  before  initiation  knows  its  religion 
to  be,  reward  for  friends  and  extermination  for  enemies.  Once  a  man  is 
within  the  magic  circle  he  at  once  realizes  he  is  getting  all  that  anyone  else 
on  earth  can  afford  to  pay  him  for  like  service,  and  still  more  thrown  in 
for  full  measure.  The  public  has  never  heard  of  a  'Standard  Oil'  man 
leaving  the  ranks.  I  know  of  but  one  case,  a  very  peculiar  one,  which  I 
shall  tell  of  in  my  story.  While  a  'Standard  Oil'  man's  reward  is  always 
ample  and  satisfactory,  he  is  constantly  reminded  in  a  thousand  and  one 
ways  that  punishment  for  disloyalty  is  sure  and  terrible,  and  that  in  no 
corner  of  the  earth  can  he  escape  it,  nor  can  any  power  on  earth  protect 
him  from  it. 

"  'Standard  Oil'  is  never  loud  in  its  rewards  nor  its  punishments. 
It  does  not  care  for  the  public's  praise  nor  for  its  condemnation,  but 
endeavors  to  avoid  both  by  keeping  its  'business'  to  itself. 

"In  connection  with  the  gas  settlements  I  made  with  'Standard  Oil' 
it  voluntarily  paid  one  of  its  agents  for  a  few  days'  work  $250,000.  He 
had  expected  at  the  outside  $25,000.  When  I  published  the  fact,  as  I  had 
a  right  to,  'Standard  Oil'  was  mad  as  hornets — as  upset,  indeed,  as  though 
it  had  been  detected  in  cheating  the  man  out  of  two-thirds  of  his  just 
due,  instead  of  having  paid  him  ten  times  what  was  coming  to  him. 

It  is  clear  that  the  Rockefeller  oligarchy  is  getting  itself 
pretty  thoroughly  intrench "d.  In  the  lieht  of  these  revelations 
there  can  be  no  doubt  about  its  indentions,  and  its  methods  are 
certainly  such  as  are  well  calculated  to  insure  success.  This 


38  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

mighty  octopus,  powerful  in  all  its  parts,  in  its  strongly 
intrenched  position,  with  all  its  bulwarks  and  outer  defences 
reinforced  and  strengthened  by  every  device  which  wealth 
and  ingenuity  can  furnish,  seems  well  nigh  invulnerable. 
It  is  not  by  any  means  entirely  certain,  however,  that  it  is 
so.  Two  great  enemies  are  just  now  looming  up  and  are  all 
astir,  all  excitement,  the  scent  of  battle  is  in  the  air.  Already 
both  of  these  are  beginning  to  marshal  their  hosts  for  a  great 
struggle.-  The  first  of  these  consists  of  the  smaller  capitalists, 
those  outside  the  "magic  circle."  They  are  becoming 
alarmed  by  the  threatening  attitude  of  the  great  monster. 
They  are  becoming  terror  stricken  with  the  dread  of  being 
swallowed.  The  second  of  these  enemies  is  the  great  plain 
people. 

The  smaller  capitalists  (or,  perhaps  I  should  say  the 
smaller  of  the  great  capitalists),  comprise  a  rather  uncertain 
group,  beginning  with  those  just  outside  the  "magic  circle" 
and  extending  downward  somewhat  indefinitely,  (but  not 
including  the  very  small  capitalists  or  middle  class).  This 
class  is  many  times  more  numerous  than  the  one  above  it,  and, 
as  yet,  by  running  pretty  well  down  the  dollar  scale,  repre- 
sents more  wealth  than  the  group  above  it.  But  since  those  of 
this  class  are  larger  in  number,  and  therefore  more  difficult  to 
organize,  and  since  also  the  group  above  them  has,  for  the 
most  part,  the  control  of  the  manufacturing  and  transportation 
business,  they  are  left  at  a  decided  disadvantage,  if  the  fight 
be  conducted  on  strictly  commercial  lines.  Their  main  hope 
is  in  entering  the  political  field  and  playing  the  class  below 
them  against  the  one  above.  It  is  just  barely  possible  in  my 
opinion  that  they  may,  under  the  guise  of  breaking  the  trust 
and  liberating  the  "dear  people,"  be  able  to  drive  out  the 
present  oligarchs,  seat  themselves,  and  become  thoroughly 
intrenched  before  the  people  awaken  to  realize  the  fact  that 
they  have  only  changed  masters.  But  I  think  it  far  more  prob- 
able that  it  will  amount  to  nothing  more  than  a  feint  move- 
ment, or  at  the  very  most  an  earnest  threat  that  they  will 
assist  the  people  to  overthrow  the  whole  capitalistic  system, 
and  by  that  means  effect  a  compromise  by  which  a  consider- 
able number  may  enter  the  "magic  circle." 

The  oligarchy  may  thereby  become  greatly  strengthened, 
possibly  double  in  power.  It  will  then  have  no  commercial 
antagonist,  none  but  the  great  plain  people. 

This  final  consolidation  of  the  capitalistic  forces  will  prob- 
ably be  done  very  quietly,  secretly  perhaps.  The  people  may 
be  made  to  believe  that  they  have  scored  a  great  victory,  and 
that  that  fond  dream  of  the  politicians,  "the  breaking  of  the 
trust,"  has  at  last  been  accomplished,  that  the  great  monster 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  39 

has  at  last  been  destroyed,  never  more  to  raise  his  hideous 
form  to  menace  the  lives  and  happiness  of  a  great  and  prosper- 
ous people,  and  much  more  to  the  same  effect. 

But  what  matter  to  the  people  whether  their  masters  be 
ten  thousand,  one  hundred  thousand,  or  one  million,  so  long 
as  they  are  to  be  ground  into  profits.  After  the  masters  (those 
in  the  protected  circle),  have  absorbed  all  the  wealth  of  our 
own  country  and  all  the  nooks  and  corners  of  the  earth  that 
have  fallen  to  our  lot  in  the  scramble  of  the  nations  for 
markets,  and  when  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  find  a  nation  silly 
enough  to  buy  more  than  it  sells,  then  there  will  be  no  further 
opportunity  for  investment  of  profits,  and  then  the  piling  up 
of  profits  as  such  will  cease.  In  such  case  there  might  be  a 
little  difference  to  the  people  whether  the  masters  are  a  large 
or  small  number,  for  then,  there  being  no  more  place  for  invest- 
ment of  profits,  the  masters  will  plunge  to  the  utmost  limit 
in  luxury,  and  the  larger  their  number  the  less  of  labor's  pro- 
duct will  be  left  for  the  people.  But  in  either  case,  their  great 
fear  will  be  the  people,  and  after  squandering  all  they  possibly 
can  on  their  own  luxuries,  a  large  part  of  the  remainder  must 
needs  be  distributed  among  the  people  in  a  way  that  will 
enable  them  to  hold  their  prestige.  Special  privileges  must  be 
granted  to  favorites  and  to  those  who  have  influence  with  the 
people.  Very  little  will  be  left  to  the  masses. 

With  the  continuance  of  our  present  system  the  people 
have  nothing  to  hope  for  but  to  be  ruled  by  some  such  oli- 
garchy as  I  have  here  described,  and  nothing  to  expect  from 
our  rulers  but  crusts  and  virtually  abject  servitude.  Mon- 
archs  have  sometimes  treated  their  subjects  kindly,  but  an 
oligarchy  never.  Nothing  can  reasonably  be  expected  but  the 
most  wanton  luxury  and  extravagance  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  most  degrading  poverty  and  servitude  on  the  other.  The 
monarch  may  desire  the  esteem  of  all  his  subjects  but  an  oli- 
garchy cares  not  for  the  respect  of  those  outside  its  own 
circle.  Effect  follows  cause,  and  if  a  wealthy  caste,  say 
a  million  or  half  million  people,  having  come  into  power  by 
means  of  a  scientific  system  of  legalized  robbery,  holding  their 
position  by  an  organized  system  of  corruption,  accustomed  to 
the  most  wanton  luxuries  with  its  accompanying  vices  and 
excesses,  and  used  to  thinking  of  the  common  people  as  far 
beneath  them,  it  would  certainly  be  a  new  thing  under  the 
sun  if  a  caste  trained  in  such  a  school  should  develop  a  degree 
of  unselfishness  and  sympathy  for,  and  kindness  toward,  the 
common  people,  that  would  prompt  them  to  begin  to  deprive 
themselves  of  any  considerable  portion  of  the  luxuries  which 
they  are  wont  to  enjoy  and  use  it  in  bettering  the  people's 
condition. 


40  AXALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

Seeing  the  present  regime  promises  nothing  but  slavery 
to  the  people,  we  turn  now  to  inquire  what  they  may  do  for 
themselves.  The  common  people,  having  so  great  a  majority, 
if  they  would  thoroughly  unite  and  organize,  could  do  almost 
anything  that  is  within  the  range  of  human  possibility.  Hav- 
ing the  ballot  in  their  hands,  they  could  soon  capture  the 
government  and  make  it  a  government  of  the  whole  people 
instead  of  a  few.  To  "know  their  rights  and  knowing,  dare 
maintain,"  is  the  matter  of  first  importance. 

Since  the  wealth  is  the  people's,  and  human  welfare  is  the 
highest  basis  of  right,  they  would  be  perfectly  justified  in  tak- 
ing possession  of  the  whole  wealth  of  the  nation,  if  by  so 
doing  they  could  advance  the  general  welfare,  and  dividing  it 
equally  among  the  whole  people.  Or,  if  they  found  it  practic- 
able, they  might  vary  the  share  of  each  one  according  as  he  is 
more  or  less  deserving.  Exact  justice  would,  of  course,  be 
impossible,  but  providing  for  the  general  welfare  would  cure 
all  defects.  There  are  two  general  ways  by  which  the  people 
might  do  this:  One,  by  a  sudden  general  confiscation  and  dis- 
tribution ;  the  other,  by  a  gradual  process  which  might  be 
accomplished  by  heavy  graduated  income  taxes,  inheritance 
taxes  and  other  forms  of  taxation,*  providing  by  legislation  for 
higher  wages  to  be  paid  to  the  workers  and  a  great  many  other 
devices,  but  it  would  all  amount  to  the  same  thing,  confis- 
cation, since  it  would  only  be  a  different  method  of  taking  the 
wealth  from  those  who  now  have  it,  or  it  might  be  more  per- 
fectly termed  a  restoration,  since  it  would  be  to  a  great  extent 
a  restoring  of  the  property  to  its  rightful  owners. 

Now,  the  question  that  comes  in  here  is,  would  such  a 
course  be  wise?  That  is  to  say,  would  it  advance  the  general 
welfare?  I  should  not  like  to  say  that  it  would  not  be  any 
benefit  to  the  people.  Looking  on  our  present  chaotic,  anarch- 
istic form  of  society,  with  all  its  commercial  tyranny,  it  does 
not  seem  that  it  could  be  much  worse,  and  yet  it  might  be. 
I  do  say,  however,  that  such,  a  thing  would  not  be  worth  the 
doing  if  we  are  to  go  on  in  the  same  old  way  with  the  same 
old  industrial  system.  Man  has  learned  the  trick  of  trust 
formation,  and  it  would  not  be  long  till  we  would  have  the 
same  picture  of  millionaires  and  paupers,  etc. 

The  people  might  enact  laws  prohibiting  anyone  from 
owning  more  than  his  share  of  that  form  of  wealth  called 
"capital."  By  this  means  it  might  be  arranged  so  that  each 
one  would  enjoy  an  approximately  just  share  of  the  product. 
Possibly  the  condition  of  the  people  might  be  greatly 
improved  by  this  method,  but  there  would  certainly  be  found 
to  be  some  very  serious  objections.  Some  of  the  people  would 
be  too  indolent  or  selfish  or  wanting  in  intelligence  to  use  their 


REVIEW    OF    PRESENT    CONDITIONS  41 

share  of  the  capital  well,  or  too  impracticable  or  disagreeable 
of  disposition  to  join  their  capital  with  that  of  others  in  such 
business  as  requires  an  aggregation  of  capital.  As  a  conse- 
quence, production  might  become  very  seriously  reduced.  So 
large  a  number  of  individual  stockholders  as  would  be  neces- 
sary to  operate  a  great  manufacturing  or  transportation  indus- 
try, could  not  work  so  well  together  in  a  competitive  struggle 
with  many  other  groups.  Great  enterprises  would  be  likely  to 
lag  under  such  a  regime.  It  might  be  arranged  so  as  to  allow 
one  person  to  own  $50,000,  $100,000  or  $500,000,  but  that 
would  soon  divide  the  wealth  among  a  number,  each  holding 
the  maximum  amount,  or  nearly  so,  while  practically  all  the 
rest  would  have  next  to  nothing.  The  same  picture  of  wealth 
(in  smaller  piles),  on  the  one  hand  and  poverty  on  the  other. 

Competition  is  exceedingly  wasteful.  Being  based  upon 
selfishness,  any  form  of  it  must  be  attended  with  more  or  less 
of  rapacity  and  ruthlessness.  In  a  sense  it  transforms  human 
beings  into  savage  beasts,  preying  upon  each  other,  and  noth- 
ing can  prevent  it  but  such  a  detailed  system  of  governmental 
intervention  as  would  render  it  a  new  system  with  the  com- 
petition feature  practically  eliminated.  The  fact  is,  competi- 
tion is  dead-,  and  any  effort  to  restore  it  as  a  living  force,  by 
bolstering  up  with  human  laws,  must  prove  as  fruitless  as  to 
attempt  to  restore  life  to  a  corpse  by  setting  props  about  it. 

The  trust,  which  is  the  final  culmination  of  the  competi- 
tive system,  has  introduced  co-operation,  a  much  more  effect- 
ive industrial  principle  than  competition.  It  has  been  proven 
to  be  far  more  economical  and  successful ;  it  suggests  what 
seems  to  me  the  only  possible  way  out  of  our  dilemma,  and  that 
is  to  expand  the  trust  so  as  to  include  all  the  people  on  an 
equal,  an  equitable  footing.  In  such  case,  the  co-operation 
being  based  on  unselfishness,  would  be  attended  by  qualities  of 
human  action  directly  the  opposite  of  those  mentioned  as 
attending  competition.  It  is  along  these  lines  that  we  must 
look  for  a  remedy  for  the  ills  that  afflict  society,  for  competi- 
tion fails  utterly  to  furnish  anything  worthy  of  our  consider- 
ation. The  fact  is  that  the  trust  has  broken  competition,  and  it 
cannot  be  mended,  and  I  feel  sure  that  after  we  have  made  the 
right  application  of  the  new  principle  which  the  trust  has 
introduced,  we  will  consider  it  not  worth  the  mending,  in 
fact  will  be  glad  that  it  cannot  be  mended. 

I  say  competition  is  broken.  I  mean  so  far  as  the  capital- 
ists are  concerned.  The  mass  of  the  people,  the  manual 
laborer  who  works  for  a  wage,  the  professional  man,  the  small 
manufacturer,  the  retail  dealer  and  the  farmer — all  virtually 
wage  workers,  who,  if  not  for  a  daily  wage,  virtually  work  by 


42  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

the  piece — are  still  subject  to  the  same  law  of  competition.  It 
is  only  to  a  very  limited  extent  that  these  have  availed  them- 
selves of  the  use  of  the  trust  principle,  this  being  especially 
true  of  the  farmer. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
GLANCING  BACKWARD  AND  FORWARD. 

Before  taking  up  the  new  line  suggested,  let  us  briefly 
glance  backward,  and  then  forward. 

We  have  examined  the  philosophy  of  the  formation  and 
workings  of  the  competitive  system.  We  have  found  that  it 
was  born  and  nurtured  in  selfishness,  was  attended  with  all 
the  characteristics  of  selfishness,  and  has  grown  and  developed 
until  it  has  finally  culminated  and  ripened  into  the  trust,  the 
most  striking  personification  of  selfishness  that  could  be 
imagined.  The  competitive  system  through  its  modern  capi- 
talistic development,  has  performed  a  great  work  in  the 
world's  progress,  not  so  much  in  providing  for  present  human 
happiness,  as  in  bringing  society  to  a  point  where  this  may  be 
realized  in  the  future.  Human  progress  moves  on,  though  the 
competitive  road,  for  a  large  part  of  the  people,  is  a  hard  road 
to  travel.  This  ruthless,  wicked  system  has  now  found  its 
end  in  its  own  culmination,  that  most  selfish  monster,  the 
trust.  The  trust  has  both  substituted  and  proven  the  effect- 
iveness of  the  new  principle,  which,  when  rightly  applied,  will 
lay  the  foundation  for  a  new  civilization,  in  which  unselfish- 
ness with  all  its  attendant  characteristics  and  virtues,  may 
take  the  place  of  selfishness  with  all  its  attendant  character- 
istics and  vices. 

When  I  contemplate  all  this  my  heart  is  thrilled  with 
admiration ;  my  soul  is  filled  with  awe,  and  I  am  led  to 
exclaim,  "The  hand  of  God  is  in  all  this!  Even  now  the 
Divine  hand  is  beckoning  us  onward !  The  Divine  finger  is 
pointing  out  to  us  the  pathway  to  the  new  civilization." 

We  have  traced  man's  industrial  development,  beginning* 
with  savagery,  running  through  all  the  successive  stages  of 
chattel  slavery,  serfdom  and  the  wage  system  or  capitalism, 
and  now  see  capitalism  rapidly  approaching  its  climax  under 
trust  combination.  We  have  examined  these  three  industrial 
forms  and  found  them  to  be  so  many  methods  of  exploiting  the 
labor  of  the  workers. 

Passing  by  chattel  slavery,  which  is  slavery  pure  and 
simple,  we  come  to  serfdom,  which  also  we  find  to  be  slavery, 
not  so  simple,  but  under  the  guise  of  a  partial  freedom.  It 


GLANCING    BACKWARD    AND    FORWARD       43 

varies  little  from  the  simple  form  except  in  outward  appear- 
ance. 

Then  coming  to  the  wage  system  we  find  what  seems  at 
first,  and  what  has  passed  for  centuries  as  entire  freedom. 
But  when  we  come  to  analyze  it  we  find  that  it  too  is  slavery. 
Under  all  these  forms  there  has  been  much  injustice  perpe- 
trated against  the  workers.  At  first  glance  it  would  seem  that 
the  chattel  slave  had  the  greatest  reason  to  complain,  the  serf 
the  next,  and  the  wage  slave  the  least.  Then,  when  we  look  at 
it  from  a  purely  financial  or  dollar  standpoint  we  find  it 
reversed.  Each  enslavement  was  a  robbery  whenever  and  by 
whatever  the  value  of  the  slave's  labor  exceeded  the  value  of 
his  food,  clothing,  shelter  an4  protection.  Now,  since  under 
both  chattel  slavery  and  serfdom  there  is  often  ho  excess,  and 
since  the  greatest  excess  is  found  under  wage  slavery,  there- 
fore, looking  from  this  point  of  view,  the  wage  worker  of  the 
present  has  the  greatest  grievance. 

But  there  is  another  and  higher  view  point,  and  from  this 
it  is  again  reversed.  The  consciousness  of  being  held  as  a 
mere  thing,  mere  property,  a  mere  commercial  chattel,  subject 
to  every  whim  of  a  master,  was  extremely  degrading  to  the 
mind  and  self  respect  of  the  slave.  The  greatest  injury  was  to 
his  manhood.  Under  serfdom  there  was  a  little  of  the  forms 
and  outward  appearance  of  liberty.  It  is  probable  that  the 
serf  did  not  often  realize  how  little  liberty  he  had,  and 
although  the  blow  to  his  manhood  was  not  so  great  as  to 
that  of  the  chattel  slave,  yet  it  was.  his  greatest  injury. 

The  wage  slave  escapes  most  of  the  degrading  features 
of  chattel  slavery ;  nevertheless,  the  money  standard  for  meas- 
uring people  is  adhered  to  to  such  an  extent,  and  the  material 
condition  of  a  large  per  cent  of  our  wage  workers,  especially 
in  the  great  cities,  is  so  low,  and  they  are  made  to  feel 
their  inferiority  and  degradation  so  keenly,  that,  notwith- 
standing the  extent  of  the  financial  robbery  to  which  they  are 
subjected,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  their  greatest  injury  is  to 
their  manhood,  although  the  injury  in  this  respect  is  not  so 
great  as  that  done  to  the  chattel  slave. 

There  may,  however,  be  another  reversal  of  this  if  present 
tendencies  continue.  Take  the  California  farm  hand,  for 
instance,  who  carries  his  blankets  with  him  and  sleeps 
wherever  night  overtakes  him  ;  always  called  a  hobo,  except 
where  he  stops  and  works  long  enough  and  hard  enough  to 
prove  that  he  is  not.  Rather  hard  to  develop  manhood  under 
such  circumstances.  Again,  look  at  the  sweat  house  or  factory 
worker  with  his  pitiful  wage,  his  family  crowded  into  a  vile, 
reeking  tenement  with  only  a  chalk  mark  to  separate  them 
from  others.  Think  of  the  many  thousands  of  these  and  of 


44  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

the  thousands  of  children  whose  young  lives  are  being  ground 
into  dollars.  The  condition  of  thousands  upon  thousands  is 
so  desperate  that  it  were  better  to  take  one's  chances  as  a 
chattel  slave  under  such  average  conditions  as  existed  in  the 
generations  past ;  and  millions  more  are  in  circumstances  not 
much  different.  In  all  these  there  is  not  much  opportunity  to 
develop  manhood. 

Since,  as  we  have  seen,  there  could  have  been  no  civiliza- 
tion without  labor,  and  since  the  condition  of  the  workers  has 
been,  on  the  whole,  better  than  to  have  remained  in  savagery, 
therefore  it  is  better  for  the  workers  of  all  classes  that  civiliza- 
tion came  by  the  road  it  did,  than  not  to  have  come  at  all ; 
society  has  been  greatly  blessed  by  the  labor  that  has  been 
performed. 

Considering  the  nature  of  man,  civilization  must  needs 
have  travelled  by  the  road  it  has ;  and  here  we  observe  that  the 
exploiting  principle,  like  the  competitive  principle,  is  based  on 
man's  selfishness  and  occupies  an  important  place  in  social 
development  through  the  primitive  stages  of  society,  which 
includes  the  present  and  must  include  so  much  of  the  future 
as  is  governed  by  these  selfish  principles. 

There  are  many  things  in  our  present  social  status  to 
indicate  that  society  is  getting  about  ripe  for  a  change. 
Prominent  among  these  are,  first,  the  destruction  of  competi- 
tion and  the  substitution  and  proving  of  the  new  principle, 
co-opefation,  and,  secondly,  the  continually  increasing  number 
of  the  wretchedly  destitute  and  miserable.  About  all  that  now 
seems  wanting  in  the  ripening  process  is  that  the  people,  the 
millions  of  great  plain  people,  with  ballots  in  their  hands, 
shall  learn  what  the  trouble  is  and  the  remedy.  When  they 
•do  this  we  will  be  ready  to  move  forward. 

It  is  in  the  hope  that  I  may  be  able  to  do  something 
toward  hastening  this  educational  work  that  I  devote  my 
limited  strength  to  writing  this  work.  By  the  perusal  of  what 
has  gone  before  I  trust  the  reader  may  obtain  a  tolerably 
thorough  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  position  that  society 
now  occupies,  may  be  able  to  see  that  there  is  no  turning  back, 
and  that  our  present  order  promises  nothing  but  increased 
injustice,  hardship,  misery  and  degradation  for  nearly  all  the 
people,  and  that  the  only  hope  that  presents  itself  is  to  leave 
the  old  hulk  and  move  forward.  Of  course,  the  reader  will 
want  to  know  something  of  what  the  line  of  march  shall  be 
and  the  reason  for  it;  and  that  we  shall  attempt  to  make  plain 
in  our  exposition  of  Socialism,  a  theoretical  system  of  society 
in  which  it  is  proposed  that  the  new  principle,  co-operation, 
now  used  selfishly  by  the  trust,  shall  be  used  unselfishly  as  the 
chief  industrial  principle. 


GLANCING    BACKWARD   AND    FORWARD       45 

Starting  with  human  nature  as  it  is,  and  knowing  that  the 
character  of  man  is  always  determined  in  great  measure  by 
the  industrial  principles  that  he  practices,  it  is  hoped  that  by 
the  introduction  of  industrial  principles  based  on  unselfishness, 
the  good  that  is  in  human  nature  may  have  an  opportunity  to 
rise  instead  of  being  checked  and  smothered  as  is  the  case 
to-day.  We  cannot  go  back  to  the  old  log  cabin  days ;  nor  do 
we  desire  to.  We  have  learned  a  better  way.  We  cannot 
restore  competition;  and  why  should  we  desire  to?  We  cer- 
tainly should  hope  that  there  is  a  better  way. 

There  is  another  very  important  point  that  we  must  con^ 
sider  before  closing  this  chapter;  and  that  is  the  danger  of 
anarchy  if  the  process  of  wealth  concentration  is  permitted 
to  go  much  further.  If  our  civilization  would  make  sure  of 
avoiding  the  fate  of  Rome,  that  is  to  say,  of  falling  by  the 
weight  of  its  own  rottenness  and  corruption,  she  should 
beware  of  continuing  much  further  on  the  road  she  is  now 
travelling.  Glancing  at  the  history  of  all  the  great  nations  of 
the  past  we  cannot  but  feel  that  there  is  undoubtedly  a  great 
danger  ahead. 

Considering  the  whole  situation  as  we  have  it  now  before 
us,  the  important  question  is  not  whether  Socialism  can  be 
made  to  work  easily,  but  whether  it  can  be  made  to  work  at 
all.  The  case  resolves  itself  into  this :  That  the  choice  lies 
between  Socialism  on  the  one  hand  and  capitalistic  tyranny 
and  slavery  on  the  other,  with  a  very  strong  probability  of 
ending  in  a  period  of  disastrous  anarchy.  We  are  in  a 
dilemma,  and  Socialism  is  the  only  way  out.  Socialism  must 
come  sooner  or  later.  The  question  is,  will  the  people  be  wise 
enough  to  introduce  it  without  the  lesson  of  a  great  catas- 
trophe ? 

Some  years  ago  a  populist  writer  illustrated  the  danger 
ahead  by  saying  that  society  is  in  the  Niagara  River  drifting 
rapidly  toward  the  Falls,  and  that  our  only  escape  is  by  cut- 
ting our  Welland  Canal.  Transforming  and  enlarging,  we 
have  it  thus :  Lake  Eric  represents  competition  in  which 
society  has  been  sailing  for  the  past  four  thousand  years.  The 
upper  Niagara  is  the  narrowing  of  the  people's  liberties  that 
followed  the  amassing  of  great  fortunes  consequent  on  the 
introduction  of  machinery.  The  great  falls  or  cataract  repre- 
sents the  catastrophe  that  certainly  awaits  us  if  the  trustifi- 
cation continues.  The  waters  beyond  the  cataract  represent 
the  condition  of  society  beyond  the  point  where  calamity  must 
be  experienced  or  averted.  Now  then,  our  old  ship  of  state  has 
left  the  old  lake  where  the  sailing  was  not  always  smooth,  has 
passed  the  first  rapids,  where  she  parted  from  competition 
never  more  to  return  to  it.  We  are  now  in  rough  waters, 


46  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

moving  at  a  rapid  rate.  On  our  entrance  into  the  river  an 
alarm  was  sounded  but  little  heeded. .  Since  we  entered  the 
rapids  an  ever  increasing  number  have  kept  the  alarm  bells 
continually  ringing.  Recently  there  has  been  a  great  awaken- 
ing. The  great  body  of  the  passengers  have  become  aroused 
and  are  manifesting  signs  of  great  uneasiness.  In  fact,  there 
is  somewhat  of  a  flurry.  "What  is  to  be  done?"  is  heard  from 
all  quarters.  Listen.  First,  keep  cool;  don't  get  excited.  The 
danger  is  near,  but  may  be  easily  averted  if  only  we  act 
promptly,  and  earnestly,  and  unitedly.  Our  cherished  old  ves- 
sel is  imprisoned  in  turbulent  waters.  We  cannot  retrace  our 
steps.  We  are  drifting  madly  toward  the  great  cataract, 
where  we  must  soon  make  the  plunge  to  our  destruction 
unless  we  act  at  once  and  do  something  to  avert  it.  There  is 
just  one  thing  we  can  do.  We  must  at  once  bring  our  vessel 
to  anchor  and  proceed  to  dig  our  Welland  Canal,  so  that  we 
may  be  able  to  conduct  our  ship  safely  around  the  great  cata- 
ract, and,  may  we  not  hope,  to  successfully  readjust  our  sails 
in  a  manner  suited  to  our  environment  and  be  able  to  steer 
proudly  out  into  the  grand  and  beautiful  lake  beyond? 

The  success  of  this  canal  enterprise  will  require  the  com- 
bined intelligence  of  the  whole  people.  It  will  not  do  to  trust 
to  leaders  knowing  and  doing  the  right  thing.  To  adopt  such 
a  course  would  be  to  play  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The 
influence  of  wealth  would  secure  leaders  that  would  be  in 
league  with  the  wealthy  class,  and  they  would  only  laugh  at 
all  warnings.  "This  is  fine!  Who  cares  for  the  rapids?  We 
do  not  see  any  falls !  Let  her  drive  !  Whoop,  hurrah !"  The 
only  safe  course  is  for  the  people,  or  a  very  large  proportion 
(the  only  danger  is  that  it  will  not  be  large  enough)  of  them, 
to  become  well  informed  on  this  subject,  for  as  many  as  pos- 
sible to  acquire  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  underlying  prin- 
ciples connected  with-it,  and  their  relation  to  each  other,  and, 
in  short,  the  philosophy  of  the  whole  situation.  There  are  few 
of  those  of  even  very  meagre  education  who  would  not  be  able 
to  understand  these  principles  if  only  they  would  apply  their 
minds  earnestly.  It  is  far  easier  to  learn  principles  than  men. 
If  the  people  understood  the  principles  thoroughly  a  way 
could  be  provided  wherebv  they  could  hold  the  leaders  whom 
they  elect  in  strict  line  with  those  principles,  and  it  would  be 
much  more  satisfactory  than  our  present  method,  which  is  to 
guess  at  the  men  (it  is  the  be^t  we  ran  do  with -men),  and 
trust  to  them  to  understand  and  follow  right  principles, 


DEFINITIONS    OF    SOCIALISM  47 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Were  half  the  power  that  fills  the  world  with  terror, 
Were  half  the  wealth  bestowed  on  camps  and  courts, 

Given  to  redeem  the  human  mind  from  error, 

There  were  no  need  of  arsenals  or  forts. — Longfellow. 

ORIGIN   AND    DEFINITIONS    OF   SOCIALISM. 

As  to  origin,  it  doesn't  matter  whether  the  Socialistic  idea 
be  an  evolution,  invention,  doctrine  or  discovery ;  the  idea  is 
lere,  and  what  are  we  going  to  do  about  it  is  the  question. 

"A  theory  of  society  that  advocates  a  more  precise,  orderly  and  har- 
monious arrangement  of  the  social  relations  of  mankind  than  that  which 
has  hitherto  prevailed." — Webster. 

"The  abolition  of  that  individual  action  on  which  modern  societies 
depend,  and  the  substitution  of  a  regulated  system  of  co-operative  action." 
— Imperial  Dictionary. 

"The  ethics  of  Socialism  are  identical  with  the  ethics  of  Christian- 
ity."— Encyclopedia  Britannica. 

"1  he  answer  of  Socialism  to  the  capitalist  is  that  society  can  do 
without  him  just  as  society  now  does  without  the  slave  owner  and  the 
feudal  lord ;  both  were  formerly  regarded  as  necessary  to  the  well  being 
and  even  the  very  existence  of  society." — Prof.  Clarke. 

"No  thinking  man  will  contradict  that  associated  industry  is  the 
most  powerful  agent  of  production,  and  that  the  principles  of  association 
are  susceptible  of  further  and  beneficial  development." — John  Stuart  Mill. 

"Socialism  being  the  product  of  social  evolution,  the  only  danger 
lies  in  obstructing  it." — Rev.  F.  M.  Sprague. 

"Socialism  is  the  idea  and  hope  of  a  new  society  founded  on  indus- 
trial peace  and  forethought,  aiming  at  a  new  and  higher  life  for  all  men." 
— William  Morris. 

"Government  and  co-operation  are  in  all  things  and  eternally  the 
laws  of  life ;  anarchy  and  competition,  eternally  and  in  all  things  the  laws 
of  death." — John  Ruskin. 

"To  the  foregoing  the  writer  would  add  another  definition  of 
Socialism.  Socialism  would  solve  the  labor  problem  by  guaranteeing  to 
the  producer  the  full  product  of  his  toil ;  the  prison  reform  problem  by 
removing  the  incentive  to  crime;  the  temperance  problem  by  taking  out 
of  the  scheme  of  life  the  only  incentive  which  ever  induced  any  man  or 
woman  -to  keep  a  saloon,  a  gambling  house  or  a  brothel ;  the  immigration 
problem  by  establishing  a  system  of  industry  in  which  every  day  of 
idleness  would  be  (as  it  is  now)  a  loss  to  society,  and  in  which  every  day 
of  added  labor  would  be  a  decided  gain  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  com- 
monwealth. In  a  word,  Socialism  would  make  possible  a  fulfillment  of 
the  teachings  of  the  greatest  of  all  Socialists,  in  universal  brotherhood 
among  men,  peace  on  earth,  and  plenty  for  all  the  children  of  a  common 
Father."— A.  M.  Dewey. 

Who  Is  a  Socialist?    By  Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox. 

"Who  is  a  Socialist?     It  is  the  man 
Who  strives   to  formulate   or   aid  a  plan 
To  better  earth's  conditions.     It  is  he 
Who,  having  ears  to  hear  and  eyes  to  see, 


48  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

Is  neither  deaf  nor  blind  when  might,  roughshod, 

Treads  down  the  privileges  and  rights  which  God 

Means  for  all  men;    the  privilege  to  toil, 

To  breathe  pure  air,  to  till  the  fertile  soil — 

The  right  to  live,  to  love,  to  woo,  to  wed, 

And  earn  for  hungry  mouths  their  need  of  bread. 

The  Socialist  is  he  who  claims  no  more 

Than  his  own  share  from  generous  Nature's  store; 

But  that  he  asks,  and  asks,  too,  that  no  other 

Shall  claim  the  share  of  any  weaker  brother, 

And  brand  him  beggar  in  his  own  domain, 

To  glut  a  mad,  inordinate  lust  for  gain. 

The  Socialist  is  one  who  holds  the  best 

Of  all  God's  gifts  is  toil;    the  second,  rest. 

He  asks  that  all  men  learn  the  sweets  of  labor, 

And  that  no  idler  fatten  on  his  neighbor; 

That  all  men  be  allowed  their  share  of  leisure, 

Nor  thousands  slave  that  one  may  seek  his  pleasure. 

Who  on  the  Golden  Rule  shall  dare  insist, 

Behold   in   him  the  modern  Socialist. 

In  order  to  make  clearer  the  definition  of  Socialism,  and 
the  objects  which  it  is  intended  to  accomplish,  and  also  for 
future  reference  in  this  work,  we  insert  here  an  extract  from  an 
address  by  Frances  E.  Willard,  delivered  at  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  at  Buffalo,  in  1897,  which  is  as 
follows : 

"Look  about  you;  the  products  of  labor  are  on  every  hand;  you 
could  not  maintain  for  a  moment  a  well  ordered  life  without  them ;  every 
object  in  your  room  has  in  it,  for  discerning  eyes,  the  mark  of  ingenious 
tools  and  the  pressure  of  labor's  hands.  But  is  it  not  the  crudest  .injus- 
tice for  the  wealthy,  whose  lives  are  surrounded  and  embellished  by 
labor's  work,  to  have  a  superabundance  of  the  money  which  represents 
the  aggregate  of  labor  in  any  country  while  the  laborer  himself  is  kept 
so  steady  at  work  that  he  has  no  time  to  acquire  the  education  and  refine- 
ments of  life  that  would  make  him  and  his  family  agreeable  companions 
to  the  rich  and  cultured?  The  reason  why  I  am  a  Socialist  comes  in 
just  here. 

"I  would  take,  not  by  force,  but  by  the  slow  process  of  lawful 
acquisition  through  better  legislation  as  the  outcome  of  a  wiser  ballot  in 
the  hands  of  men  and  women,  the  entire  plant  that  we  call  civilization, 
all  that  has  been  achieved  on  this  continent  in  the  400  years  since  Colum- 
bus wended  his  way  hither,  and  make  it  the  common  property  of  all  the 
people,  requiring  all  to  work  enough  with  their  hands  to  give  them  the 
finest  physical  development  but  not  to  become  burdensome  in  any  case, 
and  permitting  all  to  share  alike  the  advantages  of  education  and  refine- 
ment. .1  believe  this  to  be  perfectly  practicable;  indeed,  that  any  other 
method  is  simply  a  relic  of  barbarism. 

"I  believe  that  competition  is  Jtoomed.  The  trusts,  whose  single 
object  is  to  abolish  competition,  have  proved  that  we  are  better  off  with- 
out it  than  with  it,  and  the  moment  corporations  control  the  supply  of 
any  article  they  combine.  What  the  Socialist  desires  is  that  the  corpor- 
ation of  humanity  should  control  all  production.  Beloved  comrades,  this 
is  the  frictionless  way;  it  is  the  higher  law;  it  eliminates  the  motives  tor 
a  selfish  life;  it  enacts  into  our  every  day  living' the  ethics  of  Christ's 
gospel.  Nothing  else  will  do  it;  nothing  else  can  bring  the  glad  day 
of  universal  brotherhood. 


DEFINITIONS    OF    SOCIALISM  49 

"Oh,  that  I  were  young  again  and  it  would  have  my  life !  ^  It  is  God's 
way  out  of  the  wilderness  and  into  the  promised  land.  It  is  the  very 
marrow  of  Christ's  gospel.  It  is  Christianity  applied." 

But  the  definition  that  I  prefer  as  a  working  basis  in  the 
treatment  of  this  subject  is  that  given  by  Richard  T.  Ely,  Pro- 
fessor of  Political  Economy  and  Director  of  the  School  of  Eco- 
nomics, Political  Science  and  History,  in  the  University  of 
Wisconsin : 

"Socialism  is  that  contemplated  system  of  individual  society  which 
proposes  the  abolition  of  private  property  in  the  great  material  instru- 
ments of  production,  and  the  substitution  therefor  of  collective  property, 
and  advocates  the  collective  management  of  production,  together  with  the 
distribution  of  social  income  by  society,  and  private  property  in  the  larger 
proportion  of  this  social  income.'' 

This  definition,  however,  leaves  in  the  background  the 
central  point  in  Socialism,  which  is  the  substitution  of  co- 
operation for  competition. 

Following  the  line  of  Professor  Ely's  arrangement,  let  us 
elaborate  the  definition  somewhat. 

Elements  of  Socialism. 

1.  Common  Ownership.     The  enlargement  of  the  powers 
of  government  until  it  shall  own  nearly  all  the   capital  and 
control  the  rest.    The  government  must  own  all  the  capital  in 
those  industries  that  tend  toward  monopoly.    It  may  be  found 
more   convenient,   especially   in   the   initial   stages,   to   permit 
some  of  the  smaller  branches  of  production  to  be  conducted 
by  private  enterprise ;  and  besides,  Socialism  proposes  to  make 
people  happier ;  and  if  it  should  be  found  that  there  are  persons 
who  have  become  so  habituated  to  a  certain  way  of  procuring 
a  living  that  they  could  not  be  happy  in  any  other  way,  then  it 
would  be  the  business  of  the  government  to  make  provision  ac- 
cordingly ;  but  to  permit  those  engaged  in  private  enterprise 
to  receive  more  for  their  labor  than  those  in  the  public  employ, 
would   be   contrary   alike   to   sound   policy   and   the   spirit  of 
Socialism.     On  the  contrary,  such  a  course  should  be  pursued 
as  will  continually  reduce  private  enterprise  to  narrower  and 
narrower  limits  until  it  entirely  disappears. 

2.  Common   Management.      Under   our  present   system 
goods  are  produced  for  profit  and  often  the  profits  increase 
with  the  scarcity ;  but  under  Socialism  goods  will  be  produced 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  supplying  the  wants  of  the  people,  and 
the  greater  the  supply  the  greater  the  cause  for  rejoicing.     It 
will  be  the  duty  of  the  government  to  provide  for  each  person 
who  is  able,  to  earn  his  living  at  some  useful  employment, 
and  in  doing  this  it  will  be  the  further  duty  of  the  government 
to  use  its  utmost  endeavor  to  so  distribute  the  various  occupa- 


50  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

tions  among  the  people  as  will  best  promote  the  happiness 
of  all. 

3.  Distribution  of  Income  by  Common  Authority.     One 
of  the  chief  objects  and  strong  features  of  Socialism   is  its 
distributive  justice.     One  of  its  leading  .principles  is  equality; 
but  it  requires  that  equal  enjoyment  of  social  income  must  be 
preceded  by  equal,  effort  in  production.    If  a  man  will  not  work 
neither  shall   he   eat.     The    theory   of   Socialism   regards   all 
capital  as  the  common  inheritance,  so  that  those  who  are  dis- 
abled and  incapacitated  share  equally  in  its  common  ownership. 
It  also  regards  the  state  as  an  insurance  company,  insuring 
all  its  members  against  disability  of  every  kind,  so  that  those 
who   are   unfortunate   may   share   their   full   portion   and   not 
experience  the  humiliation  of  feeling  that  they  are  paupers. 

4.  Private  Property  in  the  Larger  Part  of  Income.    ^  ne 
advocates  of  capitalism  claim  that  private  property  is  neces- 
sary to  man's  highest  development ;  and  Socialism  replies  that 
capitalism  fails  to  furnish  each  one  with  the  private  property 
he  needs.     Socialism  proposes  to  provide  for  each  one  to  hold 
for  his  own  private  use  a  just  share  of  the  social  income. 

The  following  from  Professor  Ely's  work,  "Socialism  and 
Social  Reform,"  page  38,  is  inserted  to  show  the  character  of 
the  advocates  of  Socialism : 

"It  is  essential  to  the  comprehension  of  the  nature  of  Socialism  to 
know  that  it  is  a  system  of  industrial  society  which  has  found  advocates 
among  many  gifted,  learned  and  very  practical  men.  The  leaders  of 
Socialism  in  the  present  century  have  generally  been  men  of  extraor- 
dinary capacity,  placing  them  far  above  the  ordinary  man." 

To  show  this  author's  high  opinion  of  Socialism  we  quote 
from  page  145 : 

"It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  nothing  in  the  present  day  is  so  likely 
to  awaken  the  conscience  of  the  ordinary  man  or  woman,  or  to  increase 
the  sense  of  individual  responsibility  as  a  thorough  course  in  Socialism. 
The  study  of  Socialism  has  proved  the  turning  point  in  thousands  of 
lives  and  converted  self  seeking  me*n  and  women  into  self  sacrificing  toilers 
for  the  masses." 

Socialism  is  especially  attractive  to  poets,  artists,  authors, 
scholars,  philosophers  and  humanitarians.  Until  within  a  very 
few  years  back  it  was  very  unpopular,  but  now  its  popularity 
is  increasing  with  an  accelerated  velocity.  People  no  longer 
require  to  be  reassured  that  Socialism  .does  not  mean  anarch- 
ism and  everything  that  is  hateful  and  dangerous.  One  can 
now  avow  himself  a  Socialist  without  having  the  word 
"Shame !"  hurled  into  his  face.  A  few  years  ago  a  Socialist 
writer  could  show  that  he  was  in  good  company  by  scraping 
together  a  list  of  a  few  renowned  and  untarnished  names  like 
those  of  John  Ruskin,  William  Morris,  Walter  Crane,  Hall 
Caine  and  William  Dean  Howells,  but  now  it  is  different. 


DEFINITIONS— ANARCHISM  51 

Now  the  people  are  becoming  so  dissatisfied  with  present  con- 
ditions and  are  turning  to  Socialism  to  such  an  extent,  that 
our  leading  papers  are  finding  it  necessary,  in  order  to  hold 
their  patronage,  to  advocate  "Socialism  or  something  like  it;" 
for  publishers  must  offer  for  sale  what  the  people  want  to  buy, 
or  go  out  of  business. 

What  is  Not  Socialism. 

I.  Anarchism.  Anarchism  is  a  proposed  scheme  of 
society  in  which  there  shall  be  no  physical  force  or  compul- 
sion, the  only  restraint  being  that  which  each  individual  puts 
upon  himself.  Practically,  anarchism  is  the  absence  of  all 
law,  of  which  the  history  of  the  past  furnishes  numerous 
instances,  and  these  were  almost  invariably  attended  with 
crime  and  bloodshed  owing  to  the  presence  of  a  considerable 
turbulent  and  criminal  element.  This  fact  has  caused  the 
word  "Anarchy"  to  become  associated  with  scenes  of  violence 
until  it  has  become  very  difficult  for  us  to  disconnect  the  word 
from  all  that  is  vicious  and  dangerous  and  the  fact  that 
anarchy  seeks  the  same  equality  as  Socialism,  has  caused  the 
two  to  become  somewhat  confused  in  the  minds  of  some, 
bringing  Socialism  to  that  extent  into  disrepute ;  and  it  cannot 
be  disputed  that  capitalism  has  done  its  utmost  to  encourage 
the  misapprehension.  The  original  meaning  of  anarchy  or 
anarchism  does  not  include  the  idea  of  violence.  It  is  easy  to 
imagine  a  people  of  so  high  a  type  morally  that  they  could 
dwell  together  harmoniously  without  the  necessity  of  exer- 
cising any  compulsion  or  restraint  upon  any  of  its  members. 
Accordingly  we  find  such  writers  as  Count  Tolstoi  and  Prince 
Kropotkin  under  the  name  of  anarchism  spinning  fine 
theories  and  picturing  a  beautiful  far-away  society  where  the 
only  law  shall  be  the  law  of  Christ  and  the  only  restraint,  self- 
restraint.  Such  writings  sown  broadcast  among  a  poverty- 
stricken,  ignorant  and  more  or  less  criminally  inclined  people, 
smarting  under  political  and  industrial  tyranny  caused  'by 
unjust  laws,  can  have  but  one  effect.  With  such  a  picture  and 
such  a  people,  and  a  few  unprincipled  leaders  to  harangue 
them,  they  become  easily  imbued  with  the  idea  that  the  law  is 
their  bitterest  enemy,  and  that  the  true  remedy  for  the  ills 
that  afflict  society,  is  to  be  found  in  the  abrogation  of  all  law. 

Since  anarchism  is  negative  and  has  little  or  nothing  in 
the  way  of  a  reconstructive  plan,  these  people  are  left  to  look 
for  their  own  remedies,  and  the  bomb  is  a  natural  result. 
The  criminally  inclined  always  smart  under  the  restraints  of 
law,  and  often  exert  an  influence  on  those  who  are  more 
peacefully  inclined. 


52  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

This  "beautiful  theory,"  called  philosophic  anarchism, 
presents  a  conception  of  what  may  be  a  remote  future  possi- 
bility. The  picture  is  drawn  on  a  high  moral  plane  to  be  sure, 
but  with  a  very  unsightly  background ;  for  I  understand  that 
all  anarchistic  philosophers  either  declare  with  Tolstoi  in  favor 
of  abandoning  all  pursuits  excepting  agriculture  and  handi- 
craft, thus  doing  away  with  machinery  entirely,  or  advocate 
social  theories  which  would  forbid  its  use  excepting  on  a  very 
small  scale.  They  would  take  us  back  to  "the  good  old  log 
cabin  days,"  or  the  mud  hut,  or  the  shack,  and  it  is  not  hard  to 
find  these  even  now.  The  two  conceptions  are  incongruous. 
I  fear  that  such  a  high  moral  plane  could  never  be  attained 
in  the  midst  of  a  material  environment  so  semi-barbaric  and 
rude. 

But  all  these  foolish  speculations  might  be  harmless  if  it 
were  not  that  the  leading  feature  is  to  do  away  with  the  law. 
Anarchism  proposes  little  or  no  organization,  not  even  an 
organized  effort  to  disorganize  our  present  society.  They 
don't  try  to  capture  the  government  in  a  legal  way  that  they, 
may  decide  by  a  majority  vote  to  do  away  with  all  govern- 
ment and  cease  voting.  Organization  is  inconsistent  with 
their  principles. 

Anarchism  is  the  result  of  capitalism  on  the  principle 
that  one  extreme  leads  to  another.  It  is  characteristic  of 
ignorance  that  it  always  runs  to  extremes.  In  France,  before 
the  Revolution,  the  people  became  aware  that  they  were 
being  trampled  into  the  dust  by  the  king,  the  nobility  and  the 
priesthood,  and  they  imagined  that  when  they  had  finished 
killing  all  these  aristocratic  classes  they  would  be  happy. 
And  so,  now,  there  are  people  so  ignorant  that  when  they 
learn  that  all  the  injustice  and  misery  which  they  suffer  is 
the  result  of  pernicious  laws  they  go  to  the  extreme  of  sup- 
posing that  all  laws  are  necessarily  bad,  and  foolishly  imagine 
that  their  destruction  would  usher  in  an  era  of  happiness. 

Anarchism  is  the  result  of  a  good  thought,  misappre- 
hended and  misapplied.  The  good  thought  consists  of  a  con- 
ception of  that  very  high  ideal  of  society,  a  society  in  which 
the  moral  plane  is  so  high  that  compulsion  by  physical  force 
is  no  longer  necessary.  The  misapprehension  consists  of  an 
incoherent  undertanding  of  what  constitutes  a  necessary  part 
of  this  ideal.  As  nearly  as  I  can  gather,  the  anarchistic 
philosophers,  from  contemplating  the  absence  of  penal  laws, 
which  this  ideal  involves,  fell  into  the  error  of  considering 
all  laws  obnoxious  and  at  enmity  with  it.  Recognizing  the 
fact  that  law  is  but  a  rule  of  action,  without  which  there  can 
be  no  organization  or  concerted  action,  they  rejected  these 
from  their  creed,  counting  the  prescribing  of  one's  action  by 


DEFINITIONS— COMMUNISM  53 

any  other  person  or  persons,  even  with  his  own  voice  and 
consent,  as  a  disturbance  of  his  happiness.  Then,  it  would 
seem,  from  this  they  came  to  consider  the  absence  of  law  as 
the  cause  of  the  high  moral  plane.  Thus,  by  a  loose-jointed, 
slip-shod  jumbling  of  ideas,  they  evolved  a  distorted  ideal. 
In  truth,  however,  the  absence  of  penal  law  is  only  an  inci- 
dent to  the  high  ideal  and  not  the  cause  of  it.  The  beauty 
and  practical  utility  of  the  conception  is  in  the  moral  virtue 
of  society  and  the  absence  of  a  necessity  for  penal  laws  is 
given  as  a  measure  of  that  virtue.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to 
suppose  that  one's  happiness  is  in  the  least  reduced  because 
he  regulates  his  conduct  by  rules  made  by  others,  in  the  mak- 
ing of  which  he  has  or  has  not  a  voice,  provided  such  rules 
are  agreeable  to  him  and  such  regulation  is  entirely  volun- 
tary on  his  part;  and  since  these  rules  must  be  presented  to- 
him,  subject  to  the  approval  or  disapproval  of  his  judgment, 
he  has  perfect  liberty.  Penal  laws  for  the  restraint  of  wrong 
doers  do  not  affect  his  liberty  or  his  happiness ;  and  this  view 
of  the  matter  saves  to  society  another  ideal  that  anarchism 
throws  to  the  winds,  which  is  very  important,  even  for  the 
beauty  there  is  in  it,  but  infinitely  more  so  for  its  practical 
utility.  I  mean  that  of  perfectly  concerted  action.  In  the 
matter  of  practical  utility  the  former  of  the  two  ideals  we 
have  just  mentioned  may  be  considered  the  captain  of  all 
ideals,  and  the  latter,  the  first  lieutenant.  Human  virtue  and 
concerted  action  are  alike  absolutely  essential  to  society,  and 
to  dismiss  the  lieutenant  as  anarchism  proposes,  could  have 
no  other  effect  than  the  dissolution  of  society. 

Having  misapprehended  and  misassociated  this  highest 
ideal  and  discarded  its  indispensable  assistant,  the  anarchistic 
philosophers  proceeded  to  do  what?  To  formulate  a  plan  for 
the  reorganization  of  society?  No,  hardly  that:  organi- 
zation implies  rules  for  concerted  action ;  such  rules  are 
simply  laws,  and  laws  are  what  they  are  trying  especially  to 
avoid.  They  hardly  dare  suggest  a  method  or  plan  of  action 
of  any  kind,  because  it  would  be  virtually  a  law.  The  fact  is, 
their  theory  carried  them  backward  beyond  the  confines  of 
civilization ;  but  having  tasted  the  sweets  of  civilized  life, 
they  did  not  like  their  surroundings ;  so  they  concluded  to 
recross  the  line  and  come  back  just  a  little  way.  A  very  little 
reflection  was  sufficient  to  show  the  impossibility  of  any 
civilization  without  some  concerted  action,  some  rules  or 
laws,  and  they  seem  to  have  imagined  that  by  their  small 
group  society  they  might  reduce  the  laws  to  the  minimum 
and  do  away  entirely  with  the  most  objectionable  form,  penal 
laws.  Since  their  theory  cuts  off  organization,  even  in  doing 
iway  with  our  present  system,  they  could  only  advocate  the 


54  ANALYSIS   OF   SOCIALISM 

idea  that  its  dissolution  would  eventually  come  about  some- 
how, giving  opportunity  for  the  application  of  their  "beauti- 
ful philosophy  of  anarchism." 

This  "beautiful  theory,"  especially  that  part  which  relates 
to  the  abolition  of  all  punishments,  is  attractive  to  the  crim- 
inal classes,  who,  becoming  impatient  for  its  realization,  fall 
upon  the  group  idea  as  a  way  of  getting  rid  of  our  present 
system.  Accordingly,  they  begin  to  group  themselves  into 
ways  and  means  committees,  and  with -their  pockets  full  of 
bombs,  proceed  to  hasten  the  dissolution  of  society.  No  won- 
der so  many  find  it  difficult  to  understand  the  teachings  of 
anarchism ;  its  doctrine  seems  to  be  mostly  negative. 

2.  Communism.     The    term    communism    includes    any 
form  of  common  ownership  society  which  is  merely  local  in 
its  operations.     In   various  parts  of  the  world   communistic 
experiments  have  been  tried.     A  very  large  number  of  these 
communities   or    colonies    have   been   planted   in   the    United 
States.     Most  of   them   failed.     There   were   a    great   many 
reasons   for   these   failures.      A   very   large   proportion   were 
religious  societies.     Many  of  them  were  drawn  together  by 
what  other  people  call  fanaticism  of  one  kind  or  another,  and 
it  was  said  that  when  the  fanaticism  died  away  there  was  not 
enough   adhesiveness  to  hold  them  together.     The  influence 
upon  the  young  of  their  outside  neighbors  and  of  the  outside 
inducements  in  a  comparatively  new  country,  the  inclination 
of  people  to  change  from  place  to  place,  a  change  often  neces- 
sary  for   health,   strife   among   leaders   and    personal   bicker- 
ings due  to  the  smallness  of  the  communities — these  were  all 
fruitful  sources  of  disruption.     But  .there  is  little  in  the  his- 
tory of  these  societies  that  is  of  any  value  in. the  discussion  of 
Socialism,  excepting  on  one  point,  and  that  is  that  getting  the 
men  to  work  satisfactorily  was  the  least  of  the  difficulties  with 
which  they  had  to  contend. 

3.  Unionism.     As   little   similarity   as   there   is   between 
unionism  and  Socialism,  we  often  hear  people  say  when  the 
subject  of  Socialism  is  mentioned,  "Oh,  I  don't  have  any  use 
for  the  unions."    As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  have  very  little  in 
common,   so   far  as   principles   and   methods   are   concerned. 
True,  some  Socialists  are  labor  unionists,  and  vice  versa,  some 
labor  unionists  are  Socialists.     Both  are  organized  to  fight  a 
common  enemy — the  capitalistic  system,  but  their  methods  of 
warfare    are    very    different.      Unionism    acknowledges    the 
rightful  supremacy  of  capitalism,  Socialism  denies  it;  union- 
ism asks  for  part  of  the  rights  of  those  within  its  own  circle, 
Socialism    demands    the    full    measure    of   justice    to    all    the 
people;  unionism  petitions  for  redress  of  grievances  and  pro- 


DEFINITIONS— UNIONISM  55 

poses  to  remain  subject  to  capitalism;  Socialism  means  com- 
plete revolution  and  proclaims  a  war  of  extermination  against 
capitalism.  This  may  sound  ferocious.  But  don  t  be 
alarmed ;  it  is  only  capitalism  that  is  to  be  exterminated ;  the 
capitalist  himself  is  to  be  left  free  to  breathe  his  part  of  the 
pure  air,  drink  his  part  of  the  pure  water,  receive  and  enjoy 
his  part  of  the  product  that  labor  draws  from  the  beautiful 
green  earth  and  bask  in  his  part  of  the  pleasant  sunshine,  just 
like  anybody  else. 

Socialism  is  pre-eminently  for  peace.  It  is  much  more 
peaceful  than  unionism.  Unionism  relies  on  brute  force 
methods.  In  the  past  unionism  often  went  into  the  fight 
armed -only  with  the  fists  or  at  most  with  clubs,  stones  and 
brickbats,  and,  of  course,  it  was  defeated  when  it  came  in 
contact  with  bayonets.  Now,  pitting  its  dollars  against  those 
of  capitalism,  it  sits  down  quietly  and  thinks  to  starve  the 
enemy  into  submission.  This  would  be  about  as  foolish,  were 
it  not  for  two  circumstances ;  first,  the  greed  of  the  capitalists, 
who  are  often  ready  to  compromise  in  order  to  resume  the 
accumulation  of  profits,  and  second,  the  fear  that  refusal  of 
the  union's  demands  will  drive  it  to  political  action  and  lead 
it  to  Socialism.  Socialism  proposes  that  .the  many  workers 
pit  their  ballots  against  the  ballots  of  the  idle  few.  Unionism 
is  valuable  chiefly  as  an  educator ;  and,  strange  to  say,  its 
best  lessons  are  found  in  its  failures.  Capitalism  understands 
this  perfectly.  Capitalism  doesn't  want  the  workers  to  learn. 
She  also  knows  that  the  average  unionist  is  pretty  well 
satisfied  if  he  can  gain  one  strike  in  about  four  or  five  and 
can  manage  to  get  along  if  he  can  gain  one  in  ten ;  therefore 
capitalism  permits  the  unions  to  gain  a  strike  occasionally  or 
think  they  have  gained  it.  If  all  the  charges  against  unionism 
are  true,  it  is  only  a  further  reason  for  Socialism. 

To  show  how  the  education  comes  in  we  insert  the  fol- 
lowing from  "The  Appeal  to  Reason,"  September  24,  1906: 

"'Smashing  the  Union'  in  Australia.-  'The  Crushing  Out  of  Labor 
Organizations  Has  Resulted  in  the  Development  of  a  Powerful  Socialist 
Party.'  Hugh  O'Neil  in  Kansas  City  Independent,  organ  of  the  National 
Manufacturer's  Association,  and  reprinted  in  the  National  Civic  Feder- 
ation Review. 

"It  was  Malcolm  Donald  McEacharn,  ship  owner  and  capitalist,  who 
delivered  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia  to  the  Socialists.  He  is  the  one 
conservative  on  the  continent  that  the  Socialists  fight  without  malice. 

"Of  course,  McEacharn  didn't  want  Socialism.  He  only  wanted  to 
break  the  power  of  the  trades  unions.  He  thought  that  their  exactions 
had  become  intolerable,  and  there  was  some  justification  for  that  view. 
Strikes  were  common,  and  frequently  the  cause  of  quarrel  was  trivial. 
But  the  strikers  were  always  successful  because  the  country  was  being 
flooded  with  British  money,  and  the  voice  of  the  boomster  was  abroad  in 
the  land.  The  union  leaders  were  ignorant  of  all  economic  laws,  and  they 


56  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

mistook   the   existing    condition    for    one    of   natural    prosperity.      (That's 
where  they  made  their  mistake.) 

"McEacharn  knew  better  than  that.  He  knew  that  the  burst  would 
come  sooner  or  later,  and  he  prepared  to  attack  labor  on  a  falling  market. 
He  figured  to  smash  the  unions  and  remove  the  heel  of  aggressive  democ- 
racy from  the  throat  of  capital.  A  partial  victory  was  not  what  he 
wanted.  He  was  after  the  whole  hog.  He  got  it.  (That's  where  he 
made  his  mistake,) 

"The  unionists  were  lions  led  by  asses.  McEacharn  knew  that. 
Time  after  time  the  shipping  union  made  demands  upon  his  company ; 
time  after  time  he  granted  these  demands,  with  smiling  readiness.  But 
day  after  day  he  went  on  building  together  the  units  of  a  force  to  fight 
unionism  that  was  destined  to  sweep  organized  labor  out  of  existence. 
The  plan  was  colossal,  but  the  solid  patience  with  which  in  the  meantime 
he  bore  the  galling  exactions  of  the  trades  was  quite  as  great. 

"And  then,  one  day,  he  loosed  his  thunders  and  struck  hard  and 
straight  and  true.  He  chose  the  time  of  battle,  the  cause  of  battle,  and 
the  place  of  battle.  The  unions  chose  nothing.  They  were  arrogant  with 
riches. 

"The  cause  of  quarrel  was  childish,  as  McEacharn  meant  it  should 
be.  A  difference  arose  between  the  quartermaster  and  the  steward  of  one 
of  his  coasting  steamers  over  the  charms  of  a  stewardess.  The  captain, 
to  settle  the  difficulty — as  he  thought,  poor  man — discharged  the  sailor. 
The  union  demanded  his  reinstatement.  McEacharn,  knowing  what  the 
reply  would  be,  offered  to  put  him  on  another  ship.  The  union  demanded 
reinstatement  on  the  same  ship.  McEacharn  in  very  courteous  terms 
pointed  out  that  that  ,was  impossible.  Then  the  asses  who  led  the  lions 
told  him  that  unless  the  reinstatement  was  effected  within  twenty-four 
hours  they  would  call  the  crews  off  all  his  ships  and  order  a  general 
strike. 

"Then,  like  a  flash,  McEacharn  unmasked  his  guns.  Back  went 
the  reply  that  the  unions  might  strike  and  be  damned. 

"The  strike  was  ordered.  And  then  there  followed  a  battle  grim 
and  great.  Union  after  union  was  called  out,  ship  after  ship  was  laid  up, 
state  after  state  was  involved  in  the  quarrel,  until  the  whole  continent 
stood  under  arms.  In  less  than  four  weeks  the  fires  of  nearly  every  coast- 
ing steamer  were  drawn.  The  trade  of  Australia  was  paralyzed.  Four 
hundred  thousand  unionists  were  idle,  and  every  man  of  them  was  drawing 
half  pay.  Also  every  unemployed  man  who  looked  like  becoming  a  free 
laborer  was  paid  a  weekly  allowance  from  the  general  fund  to  prevent 
remanning  the  ships. 

"But  the  Shipowners'  Union  that  McEacharn  had  organized  didn't 
even  try  to  reman  the  ships.  The  land  boom  had  reached  its  limit,  trade 
was  declining,  very  large  coal  reserves  had  been  laid  up,  the  funds  and 
membership  of  the  unions  were  known  to  a  dollar  and  a  man.  The  ship- 
owners simply  sat  down  on  their  hunkers  and  waited. 

"Starvation  won  easily.  Ten  weeks  after  the  first  shot  the  unions 
capitulated  to  the  grim  foe  hunger,  that  before  then  had  bowed  the  neck 
of  many  a  proud  city.  McEacharn  had  meant  to  break  the  unions.  And 
they  were  broken  all  right. 

"Funds  gone,  membership  decimated,  courage  wilted,  the  once  great 
trade  unions  of  Australia  were  counted  out. 

"The  capitulation  was  announced  in  the  biggest  public  hall  the  labor 
leaders  could  get.  John  Hancock,  big  bodied  and  big  hearted — the  finest 
platform  man  in  Australia — rose  in  that  hall  of  silent  hundreds  to  tell 
the  men  that  they  must  return  to  work  on  the  best  terms  they  could  get. 
It  was  the  shortest  and  most  pregnant  speech  he  ever  made  in  his  life. 


DEFINITIONS— UNIONISM  57 

'Friends,'  he  said,  'men  of  Australia,  we  have  not  been  beaten;  we  have 
been  starved  into  submission.  Unionism  is  dead,  but  anything  can  hap- 
pen in  a  democracy,  and  from  the  ashes  of  the  funeral  pyre  that  the  ship- 
owners have  lighted  will  rise  the  phoenix  of  our  liberties.' 

"Nobody  knew  what  he  meant.  It  is  doubtful  whether  he  knew 
himself.  But  it  sounded  large  and  fine,  and  something  with  that  sort  of 
sound  was  just  what  those  depressed  people  wanted  that  night.  But  one 
year  later  big  John  Hancock  took  his  seat  in  Parliament — the  first  labor 
member  sent  in  by  the  first  labor  party  in  Australia. 

"Vanquished  in  the  industrial  war,  the  members  of  the  ba'ttered 
trades  unions  had  reorganized  their  forces  on  a  political  basis  aad  sought 
to  win  by  the  ballot  the  privileges  capital  had  denied  them.  Someone  dis- 
covered that  where  all  men  have  votes  and  the  bulk  of  men  are  wage 
earners  they  only  have  to  decide  among  themselves  what  they  want  from 
the  state  to  get  it. 

"That  was  only  ten  years  ago.  And  now  they  have  gotten  nearly 
all  they  wanted.  Think  of  it.  Eleven  years  ago  the  unions  were  bat- 
tered, dead,  done  for.  To-day  their  direct  lineal  successor  owns  the  whole 
blessed  commonwealth  of  Australia. 

"They  attacked  municipal  councils  first,  and  enforced  the  minimum 
wage  and  eight  hour  day  on  all  of  them.  They  attacked  the  state  parlia- 
ments next  and  gr.ined  factory  legislation  and  old  age  pensions  and  com- 
pulsory arbitration.  No  factory  in  the  country  can  now  employ  child 
labor  or  work  its  people  more  than  eight  hours  per  day,  or  pay  less  than 
the  minimum  wage  fixed  by  the  wages  board.  In  two  of  the  six  states  the 
labor  party  are  the  government  in  office,  in  two  others  they  hold  the  bal- 
ance of  power,  and  in  two  others  they  are  the  direct  opposition. 

"But  it  is  their  success  in  the  commonwealth  parliament — the 
National  Assembly — that  marks  out  Australia  as  a  Socialistic  nation. 

"In  the  Senate  half  the  members  are  pledged  Socialists — definite 
servants  of  the  labor  party.  In  the  Representatives  the  direct  opposition 
are  pledged  Socialists  also — members  of  the  same  party.  Compulsory  arbi- 
tration in  labor  disputes  is  the  law  actually  operating  in  two  of  the  states, 
:;ncl  the  national  legislature  has  passed  a  law  enforcing  compulsory  arbi- 
tration in  any  labor  dispute  that  extends  from  one  state  to  another." 

The  above  article  furnishes  a  very  fitting-  illustration  of 
the  benefk  that  sometimes  accrues .  to  the  unions  from  the 
loss  of  a  strike.  Such  failures  are  the  most  effective  lessons 
to  teach  them  their  political  power.  The  beginner  may  be  a 
little  puzzled,  however,  at  seeing  that  it  was  published  in 
two  prominent  capitalist  papers;  but  when  he  has  studied 
thoroughly  the  subject  of  social  reform,  and  learned  what  an 
elastic  thing  it  is,  he  will  come  to  understand  what  it  means. 
When  he  has  learned  that  social  reform  is  usually  little  more 
than  an  inflated  bubble,  labelled  Socialism,  for  the  purpose  of 
leading  Socialists  away  from  Socialism,  he  will  understand 
why  the  above  article  found  space  in  capitalist  papers,  why 
the  Australian  and  New  Zealand  reform  measures  are 
called  Socialism,  why  the  Australian  Labor  Party  is  called  a 
Socialist  party,  and  why  the  compulsory  arbitration  law  is 
paraded  in  capitalist  papers  as  a  great  Socialist  victory,  and 
will  then  begin  to  realize  that  capitalism  has  been  playing 
with  a  card  up  its  sleeve. 


58  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

WHAT  IS  NOT  AND  YET  IS  SOCIALISM;  OR,  SOCIAL 

REFORM. 

Under  this  head  is  included  all  proposed  governmental 
measures  which  are  intended  as  remedies  for  the  evils  that 
afflict  society,  while  at  the  same  time  retaining  our  present 
social  order.  Most  of  these  are  Socialistic  in  their  tendencies, 
and  this,  with  the  fact  that  many  Socialists  favor  social  re- 
form as  an  initial  step  to  Socialism,  causes  social  reform  to  be 
regarded  by  many  as  Socialism.  In  England  and  most  of  the 
Continental  nations  of  Europe  much  has  already  been  done 
in  this  line.  In  New  Zealand  the  social  reform  forces  have  full 
sway  and  have  brought  about  a  great  change,  and  now  they 
are  coming  rapidly  to  the  front.  In  this  country  the  public 
sentiment  is  looming  up  very  strongly  for  social  reform. 
Experience,  however,  shows  that  it  carries  with  it  reaction- 
ary forces  that  greatly  hinder  its  operation.  With  all  the 
good  that  may  be  accomplished  by  social  reform,  it  is  only  a 
tacking  on  of  new  cloth  to  an  old  garment,  and  the  danger  is 
that  the  rent  may  be  made  worse.  This  lets  in  the  dragging 
back  or  reactionary  forces.  But  what  is  the  program  of 
social  reform?  What  Is  it  doing?  What  does  it  propose? 
What  can  it  do?  What  is  and  will  be  its  effect  on  society? 

Joseph  Chamberlain,  who  now  looms  up  as  the  leading 
English  statesman,  in  rehearsing  the  great  good  wrought  by 
reform  legislation  in  that  country,  said :  That  in  the  last  half 
century  pauperism  had  greatly  diminished ;  that  the  poor  rate 
had  been'  reduced  to  less  than  half  what  it  was  before  the 
new  poor  law;  that  crime  had  diminished  in  both  "quantity 
and  character;  that  education  had  been  brought  within  the 
reach  of  every  child;  that  protection  had  been  afforded  againsl 
excessive  toil  and  overwork;  that  the  observance  of  propel 
sanitary  conditions  for  labor  had  been  universally  enforced 
that  trade  unions  had  been  legalized  so  that  workmen  mighl 
meet  their  employers  on  something  like  an  equal  footing  in 
settling  the  rate  of  wages ;  that  the  care  of  the  public  healtli 
had  been  recognized;  that  the  taxes  on  food  and  all  othei 
great  necessaries  had  been  repealed ;  that  facilities  for  trave 
and  intercommunication  h^d  been  greatly  extended  anc 
developed ;  that  opportunities  for  improvement  and  recreation 
had  been  afforded  to  all  at  the  expense  of  the  community,  anc 
that  wages  had  increased  fifty  per  cent  while  the  hours  of  labor 
had  been  reduced  twenty  per  cent.  He  also  mentions  the 
diminution  in  the  death  rate,  and  adds:  /'An  impartial  ex^mi 
nation  of  the  facts  and  figures  here  set  forth  must  lead  to 


SOCIAL    REFORM  59 

the  conclusion  that  there  has  been  a  very  great  improvement 
in  the  condition  of  the  people  during  the  period  under  review, 
and  this  improvement  has  been  largely  due  to  the  interven- 
tion of  the  state  and  to  what  is  called  Socialistic  legislation. 
The  acts  for  the  regulation  of  mines  and  the  inspection  of 
factories  and  workshops,  the  Truck  Act  (preventing  the  pay- 
ment of  wages  in  kind),  the  acts  relating  to  merchant  ship- 
ping, the  Artisans'  Dwellings  Act,  the  Allotments  Act,  the 
Education  Act,  the  Poor  Law,  and  the  Irish  Land  Acts,  are 
all  of  them  measures  which  more  or  less  limit  and  control 
individual  action." 

One  of  the  main  items  in  the  program  is  public  owner- 
ship of  such  industries  as  tend  to  become  monopolies.  Most 
of  the  European  governments  own  and  operate  the  railways, 
telegraphs  and  telephones.  Most  of  their  great  cities,  I 
believe,  own  their  watering  and  lighting  plants,  street  rail- 
ways and  city  telephone  systems.  In  this  country  the  people 
are  becoming  awakened  on  the  subject,  and  already  consider- 
able has  been  done. 

But  it  is  in  New  Zealand  that  the  most  decided  steps 
have  been  taken  in  social  reform ;  indeed,  New  Zealand  has 
been  called  the  experiment  station  of  modern  democracy. 

If  the  reader  will  stop  at  this  point  and  procure  a  copy  of 
"New  Zealand  in  a  Nutshell,"  it  will  enable  him  to  more 
thoroughly  understand  this  part  of  our  subject;  but  to  those 
who  do  not  find  it  convenient  to  do  so  we  \vill  state  briefly 
that  New  Zealand  is  a  province  of  Great  Britain  situated  in 
the  South  Pacific,  1,200  miles  southeast  of  Australia,  having 
an  area  of  104,000  square  miles,  with  a  population  in  1901  of 
720,000.  It  consists  of  two  large  and  several  small  islands 
that  have  a  range  of  latitude  extending  from  the  34th  to  the 
47th  parallels  of  south  latitude.  The  climate  is  similar  to 
California ;  the  soil  not  generally  very  productive,  and  the 
country  chiefly  adapted  to  grazing.  Quoting  from  the  above- 
named  work :  "The  soil,  while  fertile  in  patches,  is  only 
profitable  when  held  in  large  blocks  for  cattle  and  sheep 
ranches.  This  ltd  to 'land  monopoly,  and  the  few  soon  con- 
trolled, whereupon  the  people  deliberately  came  together  and- 
wiped  out  the  millionaire  class  of  land  grabbers,  and  now  the 
motto  is,  'No  millionaires,  no  paupers.'  New  Zealand  is  no 
Utopia.  Our  people  do  not  claim  to  have  reached  a  final 
solution  of  any  social  problem,  but  they  are  trying  to  intro- 
duce methods  that  will  make  all  comfortable,  contented  and 
happy/' 

The  people  govern,  it  is  said,  and  it  is  said  also  that 
every  effort  is  made  to  secure  a  still  better  system,  but  I 
cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of  either  of  these  statements. 


60  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

The  story  of  New  Zealand  is  a  pretty  picture.  Let  us 
examine  it  somewhat  closely  and  see  what  we  may  learn  from 
it.  The  first,  and  perhaps  most  important,  lesson  is  what  the 
workers  who  have  ballots  in  their  hands  may  do  to  better 
their  condition.  It  shows  that  they  can  have  about  what  they 
want  when  they  go  at  it  right.  It  shows  that  a  great  and 
happy  change  may  be  wrought  by  granting  to  labor  even  a 
small  part  of  what  belongs  to  it.  And  the  workers  took  it 
themselves ;  or,  rather,  they  asked  for  it  in  a  way  that  showed 
they  meant  to  have  it,  and  got  what  they  asked  for  but  no 
more,  as  we  shall  see  presently. 

It  is  certainly  a  beautiful  picture  as  compared  with 
society  in  this  country.  Those  who  but  partially  understand 
the  Socialist  ideal  call  it  Socialism ;  and  it  is  a  movement  in 
that  direction ;  but,  measured  by  the  true  Socialist  ideal,  it 
falls  so  far  short  that  a  Socialist  can  hardly  help  the  sug- 
gestion that  if  Satan  should  slightly  neglect  the  heating  and 
fumigation  of  some  remote  corner  of  his  domain,  those  hap- 
pening to  stray  thither  would  fancy  themselves  in  heaven. 

Having  shown  some  of  the  things  which  social  reform  is 
doing,  we  inquire  next,  what  does  it  propose  to  do?  We 
quote  from  Professor  Ely's  work,  page  255,  as  follows : 

"Can  we  not,  in  our  industrial  life,  keep  what  we  have  that  is  valua- 
ble and  escape  some  of  the  evils  which  Socialism  has  so  vividly  depicted? 
And  let  -us  frankly,  fully,  without  equivocation,  acknowledge  the  great 
services  which  Socialism  has  in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  rendered  society. 
Can  we  not  carefully,  conservatively,  add  to  our  social  order  some  of  the 
strong  features  of  Socialism,  and  yet  keep  this  social  order  intact?  It 
seems  to  the  author  that  this  is  practicable,  and  the  means  for  doing  this 
he  endeavors  to  describe  as  a  program  of  practicable  social  reform,  giving 
merely  the  outlines. 

"Those  who  take  up  the  subject  of  social  reform  at  the  present  day 
must  remember  that  they  cannot  accomplish  much  that  is  permanently 
valuable  unless  they  start  with  a  full  knowledge  of  Socialism  and  its  ad- 
vantages, and  attempt  to  realize  those  advantages.  High  ideals  for  the 
masses  have  been  realized  once  for  all. 

"Some  of  the  things  which  we  must  strive  to  accomplish  in  social 
reform  may  be  enumerated  as  follows:  First  of  all,  we  must  seek  a 
better  realization  of  productve  forces.  This  implies,  negatively,  that  we 
should  reduce  the  waste  of  the  competitive  system  to  its  lowest  possible 
terms;  positively,  that  we  should  endeavor  to  secure  a  steady  production, 
employing  all  available  capital  and  labor  power ;  furthermore,  the  full 
utilization  of  inventions  and  discoveries  by  a  removal  of  the  friction 
which  often  renders  improvement  so  difficult.  Positively  this  implies, 
also,  that  production  should  be  carried  on  under  wholesome  conditions. 

"In  the  second  place,  would  we  secure  the  advantages  of  Socialism, 
we  must  so  mend  our  distribution  of  wealth  that  we  shall  avoid  present 
extremes  and  bring  about  widely  diffused  comfort,  making  frugal  comfort 
for  all  our  aim.  Distribution  must  be  so  shaped,  if  practicable,  that  all 
shall  have  assured  incomes,  but  that  no  one  who  is  personally  qualified 
to  render  service  shall  enjoy  an  income  without  personal  exertion. 

"In   the   third   place,   there    must   be   abundant  public   provis:on   of 


SOCIAL    REFORM  61 

opportunity  for  the  development  .of  our  faculties,  including  educational 
facilities  and  the  large  use  of  natural  resources  for  purposes  of  recreation. 
One  question  which  meets  us  at  the  threshold  of  our  inquiries  concerns 
the  possibility  of  reform.  Can  we  accomplish  the  ends  which  we  have  in 
view,  and  will  the  effort  which  we  put  forth  to  accomplish  these  ends 
meet  with  a  return  commensurate  with  the  effort  involved?  It  is  fre- 
quently said  that  all  our  efforts  amount  to  so  little  that  it  is  not  worth 
our  while  to  try  to  improve  society.  When  we  look  into  the  efforts  to 
accomplish  reform  in  the  past  we  cannot  find  reason  for  discouragement ; 
quite  the  contrary,  well  directed  effort  has  accomplished  great  things; 
and  we  are  warranted  in  the  belief  that  a  thorough  reformation  of  society 
and  the  reduction  of  social  evils  to  very  low  terms,  if  not  a  complete 
abolition,  is  practicable.  The  number  of  those  who  are  submerged,  large 
as  it  is,  is  comparatively  small,  giving,  let  us  say,  nine  persons  to  help  one 
of  the  fallen,  and  improvement  among  the  nine-tenths  is  not  difficult." 
(pp.  255-257.) 

Now,  I  think  we  have  the  subject  of  social  reform  pretty 
well  up  before  us. 

And  here  is  a  convenient  point  to  inquire  just  what  is 
Socialistic?  What  is  Socialism?  What  is  social  reform? 
What  is  the  distinction  between  Socialism  and  social  reform? 
And  first,  where  does  Socialism  begin?  To  properly  answer 
this  question  we  must  get  down  to  fundamentals. 

There  are  two  fundamental  principles  which  may  and 
have  governed  industrial  action — competition  and  "co-oper- 
ation. Competition  is,  as  we  have  seen,  the  selfish,  every-fel- 
low-for-himself  principle,  adapted  to  man  in  the  lower  stages 
of  civilization.  Co-operation  is  the  unselfish,  help-one- 
another  principle,  adapted  to  man  in  the  higher  stages  of 
civilization.  Not  only  does  one  or  the  other  of  these  two 
principles  underlie  all  industrial  action,  but  all  political 
action  as  well;  and  why  should  it  not?  For  we  may  say 
that,  generally  speaking,  the  political  function  is  but  the  ser- 
vant of  the  industrial  function. 

Out  of  the  competitive  principle  have  grown  enmity, 
contention  and  crime  of  all  sorts,  including  all  wars  and  all 
inequalities  of  wealth ;  great  riches  on  the  one  hand,  and 
abject  poverty  on  the  other;  palaces  on  the  one  hand,  and 
hovels  on  the  other — in  short,  our  present  society  will  all  its 
monstrosities. 

Through  the  right,  or  unselfish  use  of  the  co-operative 
principle,  or  Socialism,  will  come  an  era  in  which  amity  will 
take  the  place  of  enmity ;  the  helping  hand  will  take  the  place 
of  contention;  justice  will  take  the  place  of  injustice;  crime 
will  be  reduced  to  the  minimum,  and,  in  time,  almost  or  pos- 
sibly wholly  disappear;  and  by  which  means  also  will  first 
be  developed  nationalism,  which  will  later  merge  into  inter- 
nationalism, bringing  universal  justice,  peace  and  good-will, 
finally  realizing  that  fond  dream  of  the  ages,  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man. 


62  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

Competition  is  always  selfish.  It  is  not,  however,  neces- 
sarily always  unjust.  Competition  usually  misses  justice 
very  widely,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  the  sum  of  all  its  action 
culminates  finally  in  the  grossest  injustice. 

Co-operation  may  be  selfish  or  unselfish,  and  result  in 
justice  or  injustice,  depending  on  the  nature  of  the  case,  the 
object  of  the  co-operation,  and  the  number  of  the  co-oper- 
ators. 

Examples  of  wrong  or  unjust  co-operation:  When  two 
men  unite  and  pounce  upon  a  third  man  and  relieve  him  of 
his  money  or  other  effects ;  where  the  members  of  a  tribe 
combine  in  a  raid  upon  a  weaker  tribe  for  purposes  of  plunder, 
murder  and  enslavement;  where  a  nation,  by  war  or  intimi- 
dation, takes  an  unjust  advantage  of  another  nation  or 
people;  where  two  or  more  people  combine  to  raise  or  lower 
the  price  of  an  article  so  as  to  give  them  an- unjust  advantage 
over  others ;  this  last  includes  all  operations  of  the  trust. 

Examples  of  right  or  just  co-operation :  Where  two  or 
more  persons  unite  for  self  protection  against  thieves,  robbers 
or  savages;  where  a  tribe  or  nation  unite  to  resist  the  unjust 
encroachments  of  another  tribe  or  nation,  and,  generally 
speaking,  where  any  number  of  people  unite  either  indus- 
trially or  politically  to  resist  the  injustice  of  others,  and  to  do 
anything  for  the  promotion  of  their  own  interests  that  will 
not  mitigate  against  the  just  rights  of  others. 

.  Competition,  together  with  other  forms  of  selfishness 
from  which  it  springs,  has  filled  the  world  with  contentions, 
strifes,  discords,  jars,  fightings  and  wars.  The  wisest  were 
the  first  to  discover  the  principle  that  in  union  there  is 
strength ;  hence,  in  the  political  field,  the  formation  of  cliques, 
clans,  tribes,  independent  states,  nations  small  and  great,  and 
trust  combinations  small  and  great.  In  society  as  it  has 
hitherto  existed,  every  separate  individual,  every  union  of 
individuals,  and  every  confederation  of  unions,  constitutes  a 
unit.  Every  state  or  nation,  or  confederation  of  states  or 
nations,  constitutes  a  political  unit ;  and  every  political  unit 
is  against  every  other  political  unit.  Likewise,  in  the 
industrial  field,  every  unorganized  individual,  every  union, 
society,  club,  guild,  partnership,  syndicate,  corporation,  trust 
combination,  every  organization  or  confederation  of  organi- 
zations of  either  capitalists  or  laborers,  constitutes  an  indus- 
trial unit,  and  every  industrial  unit  is  against  every  other 
industrial  unit.  Life  as  we  view  it  to-day  is  a  continual  scene 
of  warring,  jarring,  jostling  and  struggling.  Socialism  pro- 
poses to  harmonize  all  these  discordant  elements,  beginning 
with  the  confederation  of  all  the  industrial  elements  of  each 
nation  under  one  common,  equal  interest.  This  done  in  all 

. 


SOCIAL    REFORM  63 

the  great  nations,   the   international   confederation,  or  inter- 
nationalizing process,  will  be  easy. 

But  where  does  Socialism  begin?  is  the  -question  we 
started  out  to  answer.  It  is  obvious  that  where  competitiqn 
ends,  co-operation  begins ;  i.  e.,  with  trust  combination.  But, 
of  course,  this  is  not  Socialism  ;  for  though  the  trust  partakes 
of  the  characteristics  of  Socialism,  in  that  it  is  a  co-operation, 
in  which  there  is  common  ownership,  and  common  manage- 
ment, and  common  distribution,  and  the  individual  enjoyment 
of  distributed  income,  yet  the  co-operation  is  confined  to  such 
narrow  limits,  being  usually  a  small  private  body,  the  com- 
mon ownership,  management  and  distribution  is  so  unequal, 
and  the  injustice  to  those  without  is  so  great,  that  it  is  very 
far  from  being  Socialism  as  it  is  commonly  advocated,  though 
it  might  not  be  far  amiss  to  call  it  an  abnormal,  monstrous 
form  of  unequal  Socialism  with  those  outside  the  narrow 
circle  retained  as  slaves.  But  Socialism  as  now  advocated, 
implies  a  public  co-operation  of  the  whole  people ;  an  equal 
interest  in  the  collectively  owned  capital ;  an  equal  voice  in 
the  collective  management ;  a  share  in  the  distribution  that 
shall  be-  equal,  nearly  equal,  or  equal  in  proportion  to  effort, 
and  an  ample  provision  for  the  unfortunte.  With  this  view 
a  trust  would  hardly  be  considered  even  slightly  Socialistic. 
At  any  rate,  if  there  is  any  Socialism  in  the  trust,  it  is  not  the 
kind  we  are  looking  for.  The  operation  of  the  trust  is  a  selfish 
use  of  a  naturally  unselfish  principle,  co-operation,  and  is  the 
natural  course  pursued  by  men  who  have  been  educated  in 
the  selfish  school  of  competition,  and  Socialism  must  begin 
with  an  unselfish  use  of  this  principle. 

The  so-called  Socialistic  legislation  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  the  intervention  by  the  state  and  the  legis- 
lative enactments  and  enforcements  of  laws  providing  better 
conditions  for  the  working  classes,  is  'indeed  Socialistic, 
though  only  slightly  so.  In  the  enactment  of  the  laws  he 
mentions  are  exhibited  several  of  the  leading  features  of 
Socialism,  but  in  a  very  limited  degree.  These  are  all  of 
them,  as  he  says,  "measures  which  more  or  less  limit  and 
control  individual  action."  The  interruption  and  control  of 
individual  or  private  action  by  the  substitution  of  state,  or 
public  action,  as  a  partially  controlling  force  in  producton, 
is  one  Socialistic  feature ;  the  provisions  for  trades  unions  to 
have  a  voice  in  the  regulation  of  wages,  together  with  all  pro- 
visions whereby  the  condition  of  the  workers  has  been 
improved,  constitutes  two  other  features ;  because  in  these 
measures  the  state  puts  in  a  voice  in  the  matter  of  distribution 
and  does  something  (a  very  little  something  to  be  sure) 
toward  equalizing  the  shares ;  and,  lastly,  we  may  mention  as 


64  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

another  feature  of  Socialism  the  provisions  for  relieving  the 
condition  of  the  very  poor  and  reducing  pauperism  and  crime. 
Socialism  advocates  ample  provision  for  the  unfortunate, 
those  who  are  defective,  and,  although  no  doubt  many  of  this 
class  have  fair  capacities  and  would  be  able  under  favorable 
conditions  to  support  themselves,  yet  as  society  is  now  they 
must  be  accounted  defective,  unable  by  reason  of  perhaps  a 
slight  degree  of  weakness  of  body  or  mind,  or  it  may  be 
moral  weakness,  the  result  of  lack  of  moral  training  or  a 
vicious  environment,  but  unable,  nevertheless,  to  cope  with 
those  who  are  stronger  in  the  competitive  struggle  for  life. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  said  .that  the  poor  rate  had  been  dimin- 
ished and  that  crime  had  been  reduced  in  both  quantity  and 
character.  When  I  read  such  boasts  from  politicians,  it 
reminds  me  of  a  farmers'  convention  where  it  is  conclusively 
shown  by.  testimony  based  on  actual  experience  that  it  is 
cheaper  to  keep  animals  fat  than  to  keep  them  poor;  that  if 
you  feed  a  horse  better  he  will  do  more  work,  and  that  if 
the  animal  is  disposed  to  be  vicious  and  dangerous  his  dis- 
position may  be  greatly  improved ;  and  that  animals  that  are 
vicious  and  dangerous,  are  generally  so,  largely  because  they 
are  mistreated ;  give  them  plenty  to  eat,  treat  them  kindly, 
and  do  not  compel  them  to  work  harder  than  they  are  able  to 
stand;  and  that  this  method  is  much  more  profitable  and 
much  safer  for  the  masters.  I  appeal  to  the  reader  to  say  if 
this  is  not  a  fair  illustration  of  nearly  all  the  legislation  that 
has  ever  yet  been  enacted  for  the  benefit  of  the  masses. 

The  Socialistic  legislation  mentioned  is  very  far  from 
producing  Socialism.  It  is  scarcely  worthy  of  notice  as  being 
even  slightly  Socialistic ;  and  I  only  mention  it  in  order  that  I 
may  be  able  to  convey  to  the  reader  a  clearer  conception  of 
just  what  Socialism  is,  and  show  how  far  short  is  much  of 
the  vaunted  "Socialistic"  social  reform  legislation. 

Judging  by  my  somewhat  meagre  information,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  above  illustration  will  hold  good  in 
some  measure  even  in  New  Zealand,  where  more  has  been 
done  for  the  masses  than  in  any  other  country  on  the  globe. 
The  movement  there  seems  to  be  a  combination  of  the  smaller 
capitalists  and  the  working  classes  against  the  larger  capital- 
ists, the  land  monopolists.  Before  the  movement  began,  there 
was  great  dissatisfaction  among  the  working  classes.  Now 
the  main  object  of  government  seems  to  'be  to  make  all 
classes  satisfied  rather  than  to  mete  out  justice  to  all;  and  it 
seems  to  have  been  very  successful  in  attaining  its  object.  I 
draw  this  conclusion  from  points  like  the  following,  found  in 
the  report  alluded  to : 


SOCIAL    REFORM  65 

"The  state  backs  up  private  enterprise  with  all  the  machinery  at  its 
disposal,  but  directly  private  enterprise  tries  to  work  monopolies  and  raise 
prices,  private  enterprise  receives  a  hint  that  there  are  limits  to  the 
patience  of  the  people  and  that  if  that  kind  of  thing  is  persevered  in  the 
Government  will  become  an  active  competitor."  (p.  23.) 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  "limits  to  the  patience  of  the 
people"  is  the  thing  most  dreaded  by  the  industrial  tyrants. 
The  difference  is,  that  the  people  of  New  Zealand  have 
become  sufficiently  awakened  to  demand  a  larger  proportion 
of  their  rights  than  is  demanded  by  any  other  people ;  there- 
fore the  limit  to  their  patience  is  sooner  found. 

On  page  27,  the  folowing : 

"No  dispute  can  be  considered  except  in  trade  where  there  are  trade 
unions,  and  only  where  these  trade  unions  have  registered  under  the  law. 
This  is,  first,  to  save  the  courts  from  being  overwhelmed  by  a  flood  of 
petty  matters,  and,  second,  because  the  disputes  that  threaten  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  society  came  from  organized,  not  unorganized,  labor." 

Here  you  have  it.  Even  in  New  Zealand  with  all  its 
advanced  ethics,  the  government  has  no  time  to  render  jus- 
tice to  those  who  do  not  know  enough  to  ask  for  it,  and  not 
even  then  unless  the  asking  is  done  in  a  way  that  threatens 
the  "peace  and  prosperity  of  society."  In  line  with  these 
items,  we  find  on  pages  261  and  262,  Historians'  History  of 
the  World,  the  following: 

"The  change  was  emphasized  by  the  active  intervention  in 'politics 
of  the  trade  unions.  These  bodies,  impelled  by  a  Socialistic  movement 
felt  throughout  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  decided,  in  1889  and  1890,  to 
exert  their  influence  in  returning  workmen  to  Parliament,  and  where  this 
was  impossible  to  secure  pledges  from  middle  class  candidates.  This  plan 
was  first  put  into  execution  at  the  general  election  of  1890.  The  number 
of  labor  members  thus  elected  to  the  General  Assembly  was  small,  never 
more  than  six,  and  no  independent  labor  party  was  formed.  But  the 
interests  of  labor  in  the  Progressive,  or,  as  it  preferred  to  be  called,  the 
Labor  Party,  was  considerable,  and  the  legislative  results  noteworthy." 

Speaking  of  the  work  of  reform  in  New  Zealand,  Edward 
Tregear,  the  Provincial  Secretary,  in  a  letter  recently  pub- 
lished in  this  country,  stated  that  they  had  but  barely 
touched  the  fringe  of  the  economic  garment,  and  that  the  con- 
dition of  the  working  people  might  properly  be  called  that  of 
well  fed  slaves. 

The  government  of  New  Zealand  is  the  most  Socialistic 
of  any  in  the  world,  but  when  we  apply  the  testing  points,  we 
find  it  too  far  defective  to  be  properly  called  Socialism.  Most 
of  the  capital  is  in  the  hands  of  private  individuals  who  oper- 
ate it.  Here  are  two  points,  the  ownership  and  the  manage- 
ment of  the  capital  that  are  each  partly  capitalistic  and  partly 
Socialistic.  Again  in  the  matter  of  distribution,  there  is  a 
mixture  of  the  capitalistic  and  the  Socialistic.  All  legal  pro- 
visions relating  to  wages,  hours  of  labor,  industry  or  toil,  or 
care  of  aged  or  infirm,  which  have  a  tendency  in  the  direction 


66  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

of  equalizing  income,  are  Socialistic ;  the  main  capitalistic 
feature  of  the  distribution,  consists  of  the  profits  which  the 
capitalists  receive  on  their  investments,  for  they  must  have 
profits  else  they  would  retire  from  business.  Of  course,  the 
government  by  increasing  the  wages  of  the  workers,  reducing 
the  hours  of  labor,  heavy  taxes,  etc.,  could  reduce  the  profits 
till  they  would  barely  be  but  wages  sufficient  to  induce  the 
capitalists  to  remain  in  business  and  manage  it  or  see  that  it 
is  managed  to  the  best  advantage,  and  it  may  be,  so  far  as  I 
am  informed,  that  this  is  what  the  New  Zealand  government 
is  doing.  If  so,  so  much  the  better  for  the  cause  of  justice.  I 
think  not,  however,  or  there  would  be  a  greater  dissatisfac- 
tion than  reports  indicate.  The  New  Zealanders  have  begun 
well;  but  whether  they  will  continue  to  advance,  or  choose 
leaders  who  will  conspire  with  the  capitalists  behind  the 
scenes  to  make  the  people  satisfied  with  their  present  attain- 
ments, is  the  question.  This  is  their  danger  point;  and  it  is 
a  danger  that  must  always  accompany  social  reform.  A  cen- 
tury and  a  quarter  ago,  the  people  of  our  own  nation  began 
singing  a  new  song,  beginning  with  the  words,  "We  have  the 
best  government  in  the  world."  The  words  were  true  then; 
the  song  became  a  national  air ;  it  passed  from  father  to  son, 
and  even  now  you  will  occasionally  find  a  man,  not  always 
from  the  backwoods  either,  who,  when  you  undertake  to  talk 
Socialism  to  him,  will  immediately  begin  to  sing  that  song, 
and  you  are  exceedingly  fortunate  if  you  are  able  to  get  in 
another  word.  The  New  Zealanders  have  begun  singing  the 
same  song.  The  words  are  true  of  them  now,  but  it  is  not  by 
any  means  certain  that  they  always  will  be,  and  they,  like 
ourselves,  may  go  on  singing  the  song  long  after  it  ceases 
to  be  true.* 

*Since  writing  the  above  an  article  was  quoted  in  the  Appeal  to  Reason  from 
which  we  make  the  following  extract: 

"The  result  of  the  1890  struggle  banded  the  workers  of  New  Zealand  together, 
and  much  good  work  was  accomplished  during  the  subsequent  two  or  three  years. 
Then  the  old  enemy — political  differences — intervened.  Interested  parties  succeeded  in 
dividing  the  ranks  on  imaginary  differences  and  non-essentials,  and  unionism  at  the 
present  time  exists  only  for  the  benefit  of  a  few  salaried  officers.  Not  thirty  per  cent 
of  the  workers  in  any  trade  are  unionists,  and  less  than  five  per  cent  of  these  take  any 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  their  unions.  And  what  are  the  subjects  discussed  at  these 
meetings?  Is  the  objective  of  trade  unionism  ever  mentioned  or  inculcated  in  the 
speeches  of  their  leaders?  And  on  election  day  do  they  march  in  a  body  as  trade 
unionists  (as  they  do  on  Labor  Day)  and  vote  as  trade  unionists?  I'm  afraid  the 
answer  to  these  questions  must  be  unsatisfactory,  and  the  fact  admitted  that  trades 
unionism  in  New  Zealand  is  reactionary,  disorganized  and  almost  non-existent. 

"After  the  maritime  strike,  already  referred  to  (which  failed  because  of  the  want 
of  organization),  the  conciliation  board  and  arbitration  court  were  set  up.  In  these 
the  exploiter  and  the  exploited  meet  and  mutually  arrange  the  amount  of  exploitation 
which  satisfies  the  rapaciousness  of  the  former,  and  to  which  the  latter  will  submit  and 
still  manage  to  exist  and  propagate  his  species!  Did  I  not  live  in  New  Zealand  I 
should  scout  the  idea  as  without  the  sphere  of  possibility.  The  conciliation  board  and 
arbrtration  act  has  dealt  trade  unionism  in  New  Zealand  its  death  blow.  The  condi- 
tions of  labor  and  wages  paid  are  now  decided,  not  by  the  votes  of  the  members  of 
the  unions,  but  by  an  outside  tribunal,  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  which  are  in  no 
way  under  the  control  of  the  unions.  From  its  very  constitution  what  could  the 
workers  expect  but  that  the  interests  of  their  employers  would  be  first  and  paramou 


" 


SOCIAL    REFORM  6; 

Professor  Ely's  program  of  social  reform  suggests 
much  that  is  similar  to  what  is  being  done  in  New  Zealand, 
but  he  goes  one  better  and  advocates  that,  "No  one  who  is 
personally  qualified  to  render  service  shall  enjoy  an  income 
without  personal  exertion."  His  program  also  includes 
government  ownership  of  monopolies.  It  is  sometimes  said 
that  if  the  government  would  take  up  the  ownership  of  all  the 
industries  as  fast  as  they  became  monopolies,  we  would  soon 
have  Socialism ;  for  that  even  farming  will  soon  become  a 
monopoly.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  just  how  defective  a 
system  might  be  in  Socialistic  points,  and  still  be  properly 
termed  Socialism,  but  a  government  ownership  of  all  indus- 
tries might  be  so  managed  that,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  it  would 
be  a  very  imperfect  Socialism.  There  might  be  a  great 
inequality  in  the  distribution,  but  in  a  democratic  country 
where  the  people  have  an  equal  voice,  the  tendency  would  be 
toward  improvement  in  this  respect. 

There  are  four  classes  of  people  who  advocate  social 
reform :  First,  those  Socialists  who  favor  social  reform  as  a 
step  to  Socialism ;  second,  sincere,  conservative  minded  people 
who  have  the  welfare  of  the  masses  at  heart  but  fear  to  cut 
loose  from  the  present  order ;  third,  the  middle  sized  or  smaller 
capitalists  and  those  who  hope  to  be  but  fear  being  swallowed 
by  the  great  capitalists,  who  desire  more  than  their  just  share 
in  the  distribution  of  wealth,  while  not  willing  to  bear  their 
share  of  the  burden  in  productive  effort,  and  who  seek  to  off- 
set the  present  movement  toward  Socialism  by  introducing  a 
social  reform  that  shall  protect  all  against  the  great  capital- 
ists and  so  improve  the  condition  of  the  masses,  that  the 
people  will  be  satisfied,  while  they  themselves  may  retain  or 
accumulate  their  small  fortunes,  and  thus  be  able  to  live  free 
of  toil ;  fourth,  fake  politicians  who  seek  to  ride  into  power  on 
a  popular  wave,  sell  themselves  to  the  capitalists,  and  con- 
spire with  them  against  the  people. 

Social  reform,  as  we  have  found,  proposes  a  combination 
of  capitalistic  with  Socialistic  principles,  or,  in  other  words, 
it  is  the  tacking  on  of  Socialistic  principles  to  the  capitalistic 
system. 

To  a  genuine  Socialist,  one  who  comprehends  the  Social- 
ist ideal  in  all  its  fullness,  a  program  of  social  reform 
such  as  Professor  Ely's,  or  any  other  that  may  be  pre- 
sented, seems  a  very  foolish  and  difficult  method  of  doing 

every  time.  The  workers  have  been  rohbed  of  their  fighting  weapon,  the  strike.  The 
enthusiasm  of  the  members  of  the  unions  has  been  killed,  and  all  interest  in  trades 
unionism  has  gone  by  the  board.  The  union  meeting  is  a  place  for  transacting  routine 
business  only,  instead  of  a  rendezvous  of  the  advanced  guard  of  progress  and  a  school 
of  preparation  for  the  great  coming  event — the  Social  Revolution." — Philip  Joseph  in. 
"The  Socialist"  of  New  Zealand.  P  J 


68  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

a  good  thing;  a  method  in  which  the  adverse,  reaction- 
ary forces  are  liable  at  any  time  to  get  an  advantage  and 
turn  a  good  thing  into  a  very  poor,  if  not  a  really  bad 
thing.  •  He  asks  if  we  may  not  keep  what  is  good  in  our 
present  system  and  escape  some  of  its  evils.  In  this,  it  seems 
to  me,  the  learned  professor  betrays  one  of  two  things;  either 
an  attachment  for  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt,  (capitalism),  that 
is  unworthy  of  a  reformer,  or  a  failure  to  grasp  the  full  mean- 
ing of  Socialism ;  for  surely  if  he  had  studied  the  economies 
of  Socialism,  one  branch  of  which  is  its  almost  entire  freedom 
from  corruption,  by  reason  of  the  removal  of  temptations  to 
dishonesty,  as  well  as  economy  in  the  use  of  all  productive 
forces, — if  he  had  studied  these  carefully,  he  surely  would  not 
have  turned  hastily  from  Socialism  as  a  thing  impracticable, 
to  proceed  in  the  formulation  of  a  program  which  must 
greatly  multiply  temptations  to  corruption,  and  which,  if 
effective  even  in  a  small  degree,  must  involve  intricacy,  where 
Socialism  would  furnish  simplicity.  In  short,  social  reform 
is  a  bungling,  wasteful  method  of  doing  a  small  part  of  the 
good  that  Socialism  proposes  to  do  by  a  systematic,  scientific, 
economical  method. 

So  long  as  private  ownership  is  allowed  to  exist  at  all,  it 
will-  continue  to  corrupt  the  administration  and  tap  public 
ownership  in  the  dark  places. 

Social  reform,  where  it  is  of  sufficient  consequence  to  be 
worthy  of  notice,  like  that  in  New  Zealand,  for  instance, 
whatever  its  promoters  may  choose  to  call  it  or  intend  to 
make  of  it,  is  but  a  partial  Socialism,  an  initial  stage  of 
Socialism,  hardly  worthy  the  name,  yet  as  a  system  of  reform 
where  the  people  are  greatly  benefited  "it  is  Socialism,  and  not 
capitalism,  that  benefits;  for  all  the  beneficial  features  are 
Socialistic.  As  we  have  already  observed,  there  are  four 
classes  who  are  advocating  social  reform.  Among  these  are 
the  smaller  capitalists.  The  position  of  this  class  is  a  peculiar 
one :  they  are  in  a  dilemma  from  which  it  will  require  their 
utmost  shrewdness  to  extricate  themselves.  I  do  not  know 
that  I  can  better  illustrate  their  position  and  methods  than 
by  a  story  something  like  the  following : 

There  was  once  a  hawk  that  very  shrewdly  managed  to 
steal  from  a  farmer  a  plentiful  supply  of  chickens  for  him- 
self and  his  family,  till  all  grew  plump  and  sleek.  The  farmer 
frequently  saw  them  sailing  about  very  proudly,  but  never 
suspected  them.  There  did  not  seem  to  be  as  many  chickens 
as  there  ought  to  be  but  he  did  not  think  much  about  it.  By 
and  by  an  eagle  brought  his  family  into  the  vicinity.  He 
looked  about  him,  watched  his  opportunity,  and  pouncine  down 
upon  the  hawk  relieved  him-  of  his  prey.  The  hawk  did  not 


SOCIAL    REFORM  69 

mind  this  very  much  but  sailed  away  and  got  another  chicken 
for  his  family.  The  eagle,  becoming  more  familiar  with  the 
ground,  repeated  his  performance  of  robbing  the  hawk;  time 
and  time  again  he  repeated  it  and  more  and  more  frequently 
until  the  eagle  family  grew  to  an  enormous  size,  and  the 
wonder  was  how  big  they  might  finally  grow  to  be.  The 
hawk  did  not  exactly  fancy  the  treatment  accorded  him  by 
the  eagle,  but  he  did  not  care  so  very  much ;  for  chickens 
were  plentiful  and  easy  to  get,  he  understood  his  business  so 
well.  He  was  able  to  support  his  family  about  as  before  and 
managed  to  keep  up  appearances  very  well,  so  that  the  young 
hawklets  were  sometimes  admitted  into  the  society  of  the 
young  eaglets,  greatly  to  the  delight  of  the  former. 

This  state  of  things  continued  for  some  time,  until 
finally,  one  day  in  a  conversation  with  the  farmer,  with  whom 
he  was  on  the  best  of  terms,  the  latter  remarked  that  he  very 
much  feared  he  would  have  to  go  out  of  the  chicken  business ; 
that  somehow  chickens  did  not  pay.  He  did  not  know  why, 
but  that  somehow  he  could  not  raise  many  chickens. 

This  showed  the  hawk  that  he  was  in  a  very  serious 
dilemma.  How  to  extricate  himself  now  became  the  great 
question  of  his  life.  After  a  little  reflection  he  decided  that 
there  was  just  one  course  for  him  to  pursue.  He  would  go  to 
the  eagle  and  tell  him  plainly  that  if  he  did  not  compromise 
and  leave  a  larger  share  of  the  chickens,  he  would  at  once 
inform  on  him,  and  if  the  eagle  agreed  to  his  terms,  well  and 
good ;  but  if  not,  that  he  would  immediately  put  his  threat 
into  execution. 

There  are  two  sequels  to  this  story.  One  is  that  the 
eagle  scorned  his  proposition  and  would  not  deign  to  look 
at  the  hawk,  whereupon  the  latter  told  the  farmer  that  he  had 
discovered  why  he  succeeded  so  poorly  in  the  chicken  busi- 
ness ;  that  a  thorough  investigation  had  revealed  the  fact  that 
the  eagle  had  stolen  nearly  all  his  chickens,  and  not  only  so, 
but  that  he  had  also  stolen  many  of  the  hawk's  chickens ;  that 
then  the  farmer  flew  into  a  rage,  and  procuring  his  gun  went 
forthwith  and  broke  up  the  eagle's  nest,  killing  most  of  them 
and  scaring  the  "rest  out  of  the  country;  that  after  this  the 
hawks  fared  sumptuously,  while  the  farmer  was  at  the  same 
time  permitted  to  raise  so  many  more  chickens  that  he  was 
ever  afterward  exceedingly  grateful  to  the  hawk  for  having 
helped  him  to  break  up  the  den  of  thieves,  and  thus  save  his 
business  from  ruin.  The  other  sequel  is,  that  after  some  alter- 
cation, the  eagle,  seeing  the  hawk  had  the  drop  on  him,  .made 
terms  at  once,  though  with  great  reluctance,  and  that  there- 
after the  hawk  family  were  taken  into  the  best  society,  fared 
the  same  as  the  other  great  birds,  and,  in  fact,  in  a  very  few 


70  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

years  it  came  to  be  that  one  could  hardly  distinguish  the 
hawks  from  the  eagles  so  much  alike  had  they  grown  to  be, 
the  eagles  becoming  somewhat  smaller  and  the  hawks  some- 
what larger.  Through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Eagle  a  number 
of  farmers  had  been  induced  to  settle  in  the  neighborhood  and 
embark  in  the  chicken  business,  and  chicken  became  an 
important  feature  of  all  the  fetes,  dinners,  pie  socials,  etc., 
of  the  hawk-eagle  society. 

It  is  amusing  to  see  the  smaller  capitalists  squirm.  For 
a  dozen  years  or  more  they  have  been  sitting. in  silence,  and 
now  they  are  out  with  a  program.  But  the  most  curious 
thing  that  has  ever  happened  in  man's  history  since  Adam  lost 
one  of  his  ribs,  is  that  after  they  have  ransacked  the  earth, 
gone  through  all  the  philosophy  of  the  past,  and,  no  doubt, 
given  flight  to  the  wings  of  their  imagination  in  all  possible 
directions,  the  best  they  can  do,  the  only  safe  thing,  is  to 
adopt  a  Socialistic  program — the  very  thing  they  most 
fear  except  capitalism — and  it  isn't  safe  from  their  point  of 
view.  They  know  that  only  too  well.  They  realize  fully  that 
they  are  playing  with  fire, t  but  it  must  be  done.  They  know 
that  it  is  the  only  chance  for  them  and  that  it  is  but  a  forlorn 
hope.  They  have  learned  that  there  is  nothing  between  the 
big  end  of  capitalism,  the  trust,  and  Socialism.  They  like  the 
trust,  if  only  they  might  be  admitted  to  the  inner  circle  and 
permitted  to  take  rooms  at  No.  26  Broadway,  but  they  realize 
that  such  a  privilege  is  only  for  the  very  select  few,  and  they 
also  realize  that  to  be  left  out  is  death,  unless  they  can  form  a 
powerful  coalition  that  will  destroy  the  inner  circle,  the 
eagle's  nest,  and  they  find  there  is  no  possible  means  of  doing 
this  except  by  Socialistic  methods.  What  they  want  is  to 
introduce  just  enough  Socialism  to  enable  them  to  accom- 
plish their  purpose  and  then  fossilize  Socialism  in  its  initial 
stages,  but  they  tremble  at  the  fear  that  by  that  time  the 
people  may  become  so  widely  awakened  that  they  will  not 
let  it  fossilize.  But  as  they  always  have  succeeded  in  hood- 
winking the  people,  they  hope  still  to  be  able  to  manage  them 
somehow. 

There  is  no  knowing  just  how  many  will  be  found  play- 
ing the  hawk.  Probably  the  number  will  be  comparatively 
small  that  do  this  intentionally  and  with  a  full  understanding 
of  the  import  of  their  actions;  but  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared 
that  the  number  connected  with  the  hawk  family  will  be  by 
far  too  large  for  the  best  interests  of  society.  While  I  real- 
ize tbat  we  should  avoid  being  over  suspicious,  I  cannot  but 
think  that  there  is  a  great  danger  along  this  line,  and  that  no 
matter  whether  Socialism  be  started  with  an  intention  of 
making  it  a  full  fledged  Socialism,  or  simply  a  mere  system 


SOCIAL    REFORM  71 

of  social  reform,  there  will  be  a  strong  effort  made  on  the 
part  of  some  to  fossilize  the  system ;  to  make  the  people 
believe  they  have  reached  the  summum  bonum  in  govern- 
ment ;  to  persuade  them  that  they  would  better  leave  well 
enough  alone,  and  to  induce  them  to  take  up  the  old  cry,  "We 
have  the  best  government  in  the  world."  As  compared  with 
Socialism,  social  reform  is  a  failure  as  a  scheme  of  distribu- 
tive justice,  because  it  furnishes  an  opportunity  to  avoid  the 
full  distributive  justice  which  Socialism  proposes;  and  we 
find  also  that  whatever  improvement  is  furnished  by  social 
reform  over  our  present  system  is  due  to  the  Socialism  there 
is  in  it,  and  that  whatever  it  lacks  of  justice  is  the  result  of 
what  it  lacks  of  being  perfect  Socialism. 

To  make  this  plainer,  let  us  consider  a  few  points  in  the 
New  Zealand  work.  The  government,  by  Socialistic  methods, 
that  is,  by  public  ownership  of  railways,  telegraphs,  tele- 
phones and  a  few  other  things,  its  intervention  in  the  partial 
control  of  private  industries  and  its  system  of  agencies,  stimu- 
lated industry  throughout  the  country  and  brought  prosperity 
to  nearly,  if  not  entirely  all  classes.  By  intervention  in  behalf 
of  the  wage  earners,  part  of  the  injustice  to  them  is  avoided; 
but  by  reason  of  the  capitalism  that  is  mixed  up  in  it,  complete 
justice  cannot  be  done;  for  capitalism  must  have  profits,  and 
these,  in  justice,  belong  to  the  worker. 

Then  take  Professor  Ely's  program :  all  the  measures 
proposed  are  necessarily  Socialistic  measures,  providing 
partial  Socialism ;  and  since  all  the  points  of  social  reform  by 
which  it  is  capable  of  working  an  improvement  over  our 
present  order,  in  other  words  since  all  the  good  points  in 
social  reform  are  Socialistic  points,  therefore  all  the  good 
wrought  by  social  reform  is  so  much  done  by  Socialism,  and 
this  goes  toward  establishing  the  proposition  that  nothing 
else  but  Socialism  is  practicable ;  for  capitalism  fails  utterly 
and  since  there  is  no  other  system  proposed,  the  nearest  being 
anarchism  which  is  conspicuous  mainly  for  its  absence  of 
system,  therefore  Socialism  is  a  necessity  and  the  only  ques- 
tion is  as  to  which  is  more  practicable,  Socialism  in  full  or 
partial  Socialism,  that  is,  Socialism  or  social  reform. 


"It  has  so  happened  in  all  ages  of  the  world  that  some 
have  labored,  and  others  have,  without  labor,  enjoyed  a  large 
proportion  of  the  profits.  This  is  wrong  and  should  not 
continue.  To  secure  to  each  laborer  the  whole  product  of  his 
labor,  or  as  nearly  as  possible,  is  a  worthy  object  of  any  good 
government." — Abraham  Lincoln,  Comp.  Works,  Vol.  I, 
p.  92. 


72  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

CHAPTER  IX. 
THE   PRACTICABILITY    OF  SOCIALISM; 

"And  I  believe  it  to  be  entirely  practicable,  in  fact  that  any  other 
system  is  simply  barbarous." — Frances  E.  Willard. 

Who  has  not  often  heard  that  Socialism  is  impracticable? 
On  every  hand  we  hear  people  say,  "Oh,  that  sounds  nice 
enough  but  you  can  never  make  it  work/'  Ask  the  politician 
for  the  main  argument  against  Socialism  and  the  answer 
comes  back  gruffly  to  you  as  it.  has  to  me  "Socialism  isn't 
practicable."  The  first  question  that  meets  us  in  the  discus- 
sion of  this  topic  is,  what  does  it  take  to  constitute  a  thing 
practicable?  Of  course,  we  know  that  practicability  means 
that  which  may  be  practiced ;  but  that  does  not  meet  the  case. 
What  we  want  is  a  practical  definition  of  practicable,  one  that 
can  be  practically  applied  to  the  matter  in  hand. 

In  discussing  the  practicability  of  Socialism  as  a  system 
of  society  we  should  not  confine  ourselves  to  the  simple 
question  as  to  whether  under  Socialism  people  will  be  able  to 
live  till  they  die.  If  this  were  all,  any  system,  even  savagery 
is  practicable.  But  the  practical  question  which  confronts  us 
is,  how  successful  is  it  reasonable  to  expect  that  Socialism 
will  be,  both  in  its  initial  stages  and  in  its  later  development, 
as  a  means  for  the  promotion  of  human  welfare?  And  not 
simply  this,  but  how  successful  as  compared  with  other  sys- 
tems, especially  such  others  as  the  people  may  be  disposed  to 
adhere  to.  Its  success  as  a  general  scheme  of  justice  and 
benevolence ;  the  feasibility  and  adaptability  of  its  methods-, 
both  in  acquiring  possession  and  in  its  operation  in  all  depart- 
ments of  human  activity — these  all  have  a  bearing  in  deter- 
mining its  practicability.  If  Socialism  were  decidedly  unjust 
it  would  seriously  mar  its  practicability ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  its  thorough  justification  goes  far  toward  establishing 
its  practicability.  Similarly  we  may  say  of  the  necessity  of 
Socialism  that  if  it  can  be  shown  that  all  other  systems  fail 
absolutely  as  methods  of  promoting  human  welfare,  then  we 
are  left  to  cling  to  Socialism  as  our  only  hope,  even  though 
the  prospect  of  making  it  a  success  may  be  so  poor  as  to 
render  it  but  a  forlorn  hope.  (But  we  will  find  that  it  is  not 
a  forlorn  hope.)  And  again,  if  there  were  no  possible  way  for 
the  people  to  acquire  possession  of  the  industries,  the  prac- 
ticability of  Socialism  would  be  a  mere  dream. 

In  considering  the  practicability  of  Socialism  I  shall 
endeavor  to  furnish  a  somewhat  detailed  explanation  of  its 
practical  workings,  and  occasionally  to  hold  up  before  the 
reader  a  word  picture  of  Socialism  in  action. 


JUSTICE    AND    BENEVOLENCE  73 

In  undertaking  to  do  this  I  cannot  but  realize  that  I  am 
handicapped  very  seriously  by  the  fact  that  no  one  can  tell 
positively  at  the  present  stage  of  the  game,  just  what  the 
actual  program  of  Socialism  will  be.  That  will  depend  on 
what  the  majority  say;  but  since  the  people  demand  a  feasible 
practicable  program  before  taking  so  decisive  a  step,  it 
becomes  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance.  And  yet  if  we 
understand  thoroughly  the  Socialist  philosophy  it  may  not 
after  all,  be  so  very  difficult  to  determine  approximately  what 
will  be  the  fruits  that  result  from  the  germination  of  its  great 
seed  thoughts  planted  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 

The  subjects  of  the  next  succeeding  ten  chapters  all 
relate  to  the  practicability  of  Socialism,  and  if  we  would 
understand  it  thoroughly,  we  must  consider  them  patiently  in 
all  their  bearings  and  details.  It  is  an  extensive  subject,  but  it 
is  very  important.  Perhaps  there  is  not  another  question  that 
is  now  calling  forth  the  best  thought  of  the  civilized  world  to 
such  an  extent  as  this  question,  "Is  Socialism  practicable?" 
The  ideals  of  Socialism  are  admired  the  world  over.  All 
honest  people  who  think  closely  on  the  subject  admit  the 
justice  of  Socialism  ;  but  when  they  come  to  the  practicability 
they  stand  dazed  and  confused  at  what  appears  to  them  to  be 
a  tangled  labyrinth  of  matter  surrounding  the  subject.  Ques- 
tions !  questions !  questions !  cross  each  other  at  every  step ; 
objections  spring  up  from  behind  every  bush-.  After  a  little 
desultory  superficial  skirmishing  they  retire  shaking  their 
heads ;  and  I  am  astonished  to  know  that  among  them  are 
found  men  of  brains,  men  renowned  for  their  learning  and 
erudition.  Ihit  need  there  be  any  doubt?  I  think  not,  if  we 
will  but  have  the  patience  to  wade  boldly  in,  dig  to  bed  rock 
at  every  important  point  and  let  our  motto  be  "One  thing  at 
a  time."  Never  mind  the  criss-cross  questions  and  objections 
at  first.  These  will  mostly  vanish  of  their  own  accord  as  we 
proceed  with  our  investigation. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  JUSTICE  AND  BENEVOLENCE  OF  SOCIALISM. 

There  seems  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  many  good  people, 
the  idea  that  Socialism  proposes  a  great  injustice  to  the 
present  property  owners.  Some  who  admire  the  high  ideals 
of  Socialism  and  are  favorably  disposed  to  it  in  other 
respects,  stumble  at  the  proposition  to  usher  in  the  new  sys- 
tem by  what  seems  to  them  to  be  virtually  a  wholesale  rob- 
bery. Let  me  assure  the  reader  however,  at  the  outset,  that 


74  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

there  could  scarcely  be  anything  farther  from  the  truth;  and 
to  show  that  I  am  in  good  company  in  this  position,  I  cite 
you  to  the  extract  already  quoted  from  Miss  Willard's  speech 
in  which  she  denounced  the  great  inequalities  of  distribution. 
I  also  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  Professor  Ely  with 
all  his  doubtings  concerning  the  practicability  of  Socialism,, 
says  confidently,  that  "Socialism  is  strong  on  its  moral  and 
ethical  side;"  that  one  of  its  strong  points  is  its  distributive 
justice;  and  that  "Socialism  is  not  a  scheme  of  criminals  for 
theft  and  robbery ;"  that  the  criminal  only  looks  out  for 
to-day,  while  Socialism  plans  for  the  future  upbuilding  of  the 
human  race.  A  careful  study  of  this  topic  will  reveal  the  fact 
that  the  failure  of  many  to  appreciate  the  justice  of  Social- 
ism, is  the  result  of  distorted  ideals  of  justice  which  competi- 
tion and  capitalism  have  set  before  the  world.  By  means  of 
all  the  institutions  of  society,  our  ideas  of  the  rights  of 
property  and  the  sacredness  of  those  rights,  have  been  so 
thoroughly  riveted  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  that  they 
seem  like  bed  rock,  fundamental,  as  some  one  has  said,  "so 
because  it  is  so  and  that  is  all  there  is  to  it."  There  is  per- 
haps, no  other  principle  the  inculcation  of  which  has  done 
more  to  educate  the  public  conscience  than  that  of  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  rights  of  property ;  and  I  am  very  glad  indeed 
that  the  public  conscience  has  been  so  educated;  for  it  is  to 
that  conscience  that  I  now  appeal.  One  of  the  chief  tests  of 
the  civilization  of  a  people  in  the  past  has  been  their  respect 
for  the  rights  of  property;  and  when  the  world  comes  to 
understand  better  just  what  those  rights  are,  the  same  test 
will  determine  whether  or  not  we  are  rising  still  higher  in  the 
scale  of  civilization. 

Let  any  reader  who  is  in  doubt  about  the  justice  of 
Socialism,  turn  back  and  reread  Chapters  II.,  III.  and  V.,. 
reflect  carefully  and  say  if  you  think  the  moral  title  to  the 
bulk  of  the  wealth  is  where  the  legal  title  places  it.  If  not, 
then  there  is  an  injustice  done  those  who  have  a  moral  right 
but  are  kept  out  of  possession.  Socialism  proposes  the  col- 
lective ownership  of  most  of  the  property ;  of  all  of  what  is 
called  capital  or  tools  of  production,  that  is,  the  land  with  its 
improvements,  excepting  what  is  used  for  homes;  (and  even 
these  no  doubt  many  will  find  it  more  convenient  to  rent  from 
the  government  because  of  the  changing  wants  of  their 
families  and  the  necessity  or  disposition  to  change  localities,) 
all  live  stock  excepting  such  as  are  used  privately,  as,  for 
instance,  a  cow  or  driving  horse,  which  probably  very  few 
will  care  to  be  bothered  with,  as  the  state  could  supply  the 
needs  of  each  much  cheaper;  all  the  facilities  for  travel,  com- 


JUSTICE    AND    BENEVOLENCE  75 

munication  and  transportation,  and  whatever  property  may 
be  necessary  in  providing  for  the  general  welfare. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  average  of  wealth  per  family  is 
about  $6,000.00,  and  it  is  evident  that  it  does  not  matter 
whether  one  own  and  operate  his  share  separately,  or  share 
in  the  collective  ownership,  provided  he  derives  the  same 
benefit  with  the  same  effort.  Now,  it  is  clear,  must  be  clear 
to  any  thinking  person,  that  in  such  case  Socialism  would  not 
be  unjust,  if,  after  the  transfer  of  the  wealth  from  private  to 
public  ownership,  allowing  an  equal  share  to  each  one,  the 
amount  of  wealth  then  held  unjustly,  is  not  greater  than  the 
amount  now  held  unjustly;  for,  be  it  remembered,  that  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  there  is  a  very  great  injustice  being  perpe- 
trated now,  in  that  a  very  great  part  of  the  wealth  is  now 
legally  owned  by  those  who  have  no  moral  right  to  it,  and 
Socialism  cannot  be  unjust  in  making  such  transfer,  unless 
it  increases  the  injustice. 

And  when  the  reader  has  studied  the  various  economies 
of  Socialism,  and  considered  the  greater  certainty  which  it 
will  provide  instead  of  the .  financial  uncertainty  that  now 
exists,  and  also  the  greatly  improved  advantages  which  the 
higher  society  of  Socialism  will  furnish,  he  will  then  be  able 
to  see  that  one  now  having  several  times  that  amount  would 
be  financially  benefited  by  exchanging  it  for  a  six  thousand 
dollar  interest  in  the  co-operative  commonwealth.  It  fol- 
lows then,  if  this  be  true,  that  no  injustice  could  result  from 
a  Socialistic  transfer  unless  the  amount  held  unjustly  then, 
should  be  several  times  greater  than  that  held  unjustly  now, 
which  is  not  the  case ;  for  it  may  easily  be  shown  that  instead 
of  being  several  times  greater,  it  would  be  several  times  less. 

I  believe  there  is  much  more  good  in  human  nature 
than  it  usually  gets  credit  for.  Many  who  adhere  to  the 
principles  of  our  present  order  revolt  against  some  of  their 
legitimate  results.  For  instance,  they  endorse  in  a  gen- 
eral way  the  agreed  price  as  a  just  basis  of  exchange,  yet 
frequently,  when  the  price  is  extremely  high  or  extremely 
low,  will  denounce  it  as  robbery.  Again  they  endorse  what 
they  call  "vested  rights,"  the  right  of  each  one  to  do  as 
he  pleases  with  his  own ;  yet  when  he  takes  advantage  of 
his  fellow-man's  necessities  and  exacts  an  exorbitant  inter- 
est, or  rent,  or  profit,  again  they  cry  robbery !  and  raise 
the  standard  of  revolt  against  the  principles  they  endorse.  I 
am  very  glad  there  are  so  many  who  are  better  than  their 
principles.  It  gives  room  to  hope  that  they  may  be  led  to 
see  the  defects  in  those  principles,  and  induced  to  throw  them 
away  and  substitute  those  that  are  better.  And  they  are 
doing  this  even  now.  Like  an  old  coat,  the  people  have  out- 


76  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

grown  their  principles;  and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that 
every  day  they  are  doffing  the  old  and  donning  the  new  that 
fit  them  better.  But  with  the  ideals  of  justice  held  by  those 
who  are  still  wearing  their  outgrown  principles  it  is  evident 
that  a  very  large  part  of  the  wealth  is  held  unjustly, 
especially  the  great  fortunes  which  are  very  largely  the 
accumulations  resulting-  not  merely  from  exorbitant  rent, 
interest  and  profit,  but  also  the  results  of  political  corruption, 
trust  combination,  conspiracies,  etc.  Socialism  proposes  the 
use  of  machinery  on  a  large  scale,  such  as  is  not  dreamed  of 
under  capitalism ;  of  much  better  organization,  much  more 
systematic,  scientific  and  economical  methods  of  production 
and  distribution,  and  that  all  who  are  able  shall  help.  Social- 
ists hope  that  by  the  economic  use  of  all  the  productive  forces 
that  are  now  working  principally  at  cross  purposes,  the  pro- 
duction may  be  easily  doubled  with  a  considerable  reduction 
in  the  effort  required  by  each  one,  and  that  by  the  use  of 
machinery  on  a  vast  scale  as  well  as  by  more  systematic, 
scientific  and  economical  methods,  it  may  at  least  be  doubled 
and  more  likely  quadrupled  again. 

Socialism  proposes  to  supply  all  man's  wants.  If  it 
proves  to  be  practicable  as  we  Socialists  have  full  confidence 
it  will,  even  to  within  half  or  a  fourth  of  our  expectations,  the 
lot  of  each  one  will  be  more  enjoyable  than  that  of  any 
millionaire  now.  The  possession  of  great  wealth  brings  a 
burden  of  care  which  would  be  unknown  under  Socialism ; 
for  if  Socialism  can  be  made  to  work  at  all  at  the  start,  it 
can  be  improved  so  that  one  having  tasted  its  sweets  would 
not  exchange  his  common  lot  for  all  the  wealth  of  a  Rocke- 
feller. But  this  treatment  of  the  subject  is  based  on  the  ideals 
of  those  who  are  still  wearing  the  old  coat,  the  old  principles, 
the  extreme  results  of  which  they  revolt  against,  the  principle 
of  mutual  agreement  in  questions  of  wages,  of  price,  rent, 
interest  and  profit,  and  the  principle  of  "vested  rights,"  all  of 
which  boiled  down  signify  simply  that  "might  makes  right." 
And  just  here  a  few  words  on  vested  rights.  In  the  days  of 
slavery  the  slave-owner  talked  much  of  these;  but  in  reply 
it  was  said,  that,  admitting  the  validity  of  the  principle,  these 
so-called  "vested  rights"  are  rights  only  by  sufferance  of 
the  law,  and  that  being  morally  wrong  they  cannot  possibly 
continue  any  moral  right  after  the  law  has  terminated  the 
right  by  sufferance.  So  with  capitalism.  In  its  last  analysis 
capitalism  is  but  a  form  of  slavery.  Wealth  or  property, 
especially  property  in  capital,  the  tools  of  production,  is  desir- 
able for  the  power  that  it  gives  over  men.  The  chattel  slave 
owner  desired  the  ownership  of  slaves  in  order  that  he  might 
command  their  services.  That  is  exactly  why  the  capitalist 


JUSTICE    AND    BENEVOLENCE  77 

desires  the  ownership  of  capital,  that  he  may  command  the 
services  of  the  wage  slave.  The  more  capital  he  has  the  more 
services  he  may  command.  Capitalism  too  is  in  itself  morally 
wrong,  and  the  ''vested  rights"  under  it  are  also  merely  rights 
by  sufferance,  and  can  have  no  morally  binding  force  beyond 
the  time  when  the  people  abolish  them  with  the  system  from 
which  they  sprang  and  substitute  something  better. 
Accumulations  of  wealth,  especially  great  wealth,  are  largely 
the  result  of  chance.  The  owner  justifies  himself  on  the 
ground  of  the  risk  he  has  taken.  To  this  we  reply,  very  well ; 
the  risk  is  worth  something  though  generally  less  than  the 
profits,  else  the  fortunes  would  not  exist;  but  however  that 
may  be,  no  just  claim  by  virtue  of  risk  can  possibly  extend 
beyond  the  close  of  the  competitive  system  under  which  all 
business  is  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  gambling,  when  Social- 
ism will  put  an  end  to  the  gambling  and  substitute  certainty 
for  uncertainty.  So  much  then  for  the  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject on  this  lower  plane.  And  now,  you  who  are  still  cling- 
ing to  the  'old  principles,  the  extreme  effects  of  which  you 
revolt  against,  you  who  are  still  wearing  or  trying  to  wear 
the  old  coat,  let  me  implore  you  to  throw  away  the  little  old, 
ragged,  dirty,  blood-stained  thing,  and  come,  follow  me,  while 
I  show*you  a  beautiful  garment,  and  spotlessly  clean,  a  little 
large  for  you  just  now,  it  may  be,  but  if  you  eat  plenty  of 
the  right  kind  of  food,  you  may  soon  grow  till  it  will  fit  you 
to  a  "T."  Come  let  us  examine  these  new  principles,  which 
are  not  entirely  new,  for  they  have  been  recognized  by  many 
philosophers  and  sages  of  the  past,  but  they  are  practically 
new  to  most  people.  I  refer  to  the  three  propositions  already 
stated,  namely,  first,  "The  earth  with  all  its  resources  is  the 
common  heritage  of  all  the  people ;"  second,  "Wealth  belongs 
to  those  who  produce  it ;"  and  third,  "Human  welfare  is  the 
highest  basis  of  right." 

First,  "The  earth  with  all  its  resources  is  the  natural 
heritage  of  all  the  people."  It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  offer 
anything  in  proof  of  this  proposition  beyond  its  simple  state- 
ment, its  truthfulness  is  so  self-evident.  Nevertheless,  I  will 
occupy  a  short  space  in  endeavoring  to  elucidate  it  somewhat. 

Whether  you  are  Christian  or  non-Christian,  you  believe 
that  the  earth  exists  for  the  benefit  of  all  and  not  simply  for 
a  few.  That  naturally  all  the  people  have  an  equal  right  to 
all  earth's  resources  rmist  be  admitted  bv  all  excepting  those 
who  adhere  to  the  principle  that  "rmVbt  makes  ri<rht,"  and 
I  have  110  words  to  waste  upon  those  who  adopt  so  brutal  a 
standard  :  at  least  it  is  not  worth  while  trying-  to  convince 
such  of  the  instice  of  Socialism.  The  only  thing  that  we  mav 
be  able  to  do  with  them  row  is,  to  show  them  that  Socialism 


78  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

is  to  their  individual  interest,  failing  in  which,  we  hope  in 
due  time  to  prove  in  a  practical  way  by  their  own  standard, 
the  justice  of  Socialism. 

There  is  an  old  saying  that  "he  takes  my  house  who  takes 
away  the  prop  by  which  my  house  doth  stand."  Applying 
the  principle  of  this  maxim  to  the  matter  in  hand,  we  may 
say,  as  someone  has  said,  "He  takes  my  life  who  takes  away 
the  means  by  which  I  live."  Man  must  have  air,  water,  and 
a  supply  of  the  earth's  products  for  food,  clothing  and  shelter, 
or  he  will  die;  and  unless  he  is  supplied  with  books,  papers, 
pictures,  schools,  laboratories,  libraries,  sermons,  lectures, 
leisure,  etc.,  etc.,  in  short,  unless  he  has  opportunity  for  the 
development  of  his  higher  nature,  which  he  cannot  have  with- 
out access  to  earth's  resources,  about  all  is  lost  that  makes 
life  worth  living.  We  would  think  it  "just  awful"  if  a  syndi- 
cate should  contaminate  the  air  of  a  city  so  as  to  cause  the 
death  of  all  those  who  breathe  it  and  then  charge  so  much 
for  the  privilege  of  breathing  pure  air  from  without  which  it 
brings  through  pipes,  that  it  would  take  all  the  'wages  of  a 
working  man  to  pay  it.  "What!"  we  would  say,  "must  we 
choose  between  slavery  and  death?"  Again,  suppose  the 
water  supply  of  our  cities,  now  furnished  for  a  small  sum, 
should  be  placed  at  an  equally  exorbitant  figure ;  anti  again 
we  would  say,  "What !  must  we  choose  between  slavery  and 
death?"  And  again ;  suppose  the  earth  should  fall  into  the 
hands  of  a  few  persons  who  should  cut  the  people  off  from 
using  its  resources  and  charge  so  much  for  its  products  that 
the  masses  of  the  people  could  barely  supply  themselves  with 
the  coarsest  kinds  of  food,  clothing  and  shelter,  with  little  or 
no  time  or  opportunity  for  education  and  culture.  And  again 

we  would  say,  "What !    must  we  choose  between  slav " 

"Oh,  that  is  all  right,"  someone  breaks  in,  "it  always  has 
been  so  and  always  will  be.  It  is  according  to  the  laws  of 
nature  for  the  strong  to  prey  upon  the  weak.  It  is  the  uni- 
versal law  of  all  animal  life  and  man  is  no  exception ;  it  is 
nature,  therefore,  it  is  right."  If  there  is  anything  to  prove 
conclusively  that  man  has  risen  from  the  brutesit  is  the  reflec- 
tion that  if  such  a  man  with  such  brutish  ideals  should  fall 
back  to  the  brute  plane,  the  distance  of  the  fall  would  be  so 
short  that  it  would  scarcely  jar  him.  Yes,  it  is  quite  true  that 
it  always  has  been  so  that  a  very  large  part  of  the  people 
must  choose  between  slavery  and  death ;  but  it  does  not 
necessarily  follow  that  it  always  will  be  so.  It  is  only  by 
means  of  laws  that  one  can  enjoy  the  separate  ownership  and 
use  of  land.  No  law  nor  set  of  laws  whereby  a  few  acquire 
possession  of  the  land  and  its  resources,  which  enables  them 
to  enslave  their  fellow  men,  is  right  unless  such  slavery  is 


JUSTICE    AND    BENEVOLENCE  79 

necessary  to  the  advancement  of  civilization,  and  such  laws 
cannot  confer  any  moral  right  extending  beyond  the  period 
covered  by  such  necessity.  Legislation  has,  no  doubt,  often 
been  enacted  concerning  land  ownership  which  was  beneficial 
to  the  people  at  the  time  and  for  a  considerable  period  after- 
ward, but  later,  became  very  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of 
another  generation.  In  such  case  the  former  generation  has 
no  right  to  bind  the  latter,  and  no  law  by  the  former,  the 
effect  of  which  is  to  put  the  latter  out  of  possession,  can  make 
it  wrong  for  the  latter  to  enact  a  law  or  laws  restoring  the 
possession  to  themselves.  Our  time-honored  customs  and 
laws  of  inheritance  whereby  property  of  every  kind  passes  at 
the  death  of  the  owner  to  the  next  of  kin,  seem  like  bed  rock. 
It  has  come  to  seem  almost  sacrilegious  to  interrupt  them. 
But  why  should  it?  It  is  true  that  the  parent  is  the  natural 
guardian  of  the  child  during  minority,  and  that  the  family 
brotherhood  constitutes,  to  some  extent,  an  insurance  com- 
pany, providing  partly  by  tacit  understanding  based  on  cus- 
tom, and  partly  by  the  ties  of  nature,  for  the  support  of  such 
of  its  members  as  are  unfortunate.  But  really,  after  such 
guardianship  and  insurance  has  been  provided  for  by  the  state, 
as  Socialism  proposes  to  do,  why  should  the  state  be  under 
obligation  to  confer  upon  a  person  property  which  he  never 
earned  and  which  comes  from  a  parent  who  owes  him  nothing 
but  to  whom  he  is  greatly  indebted,  especially  if  such  owner- 
ship militates  against  the  welfare  of  society  in  general?  To 
be  sure,  there  is  that  doubtful  point,  the  desire  of  the  owner 
that  his  offspring  or  next  of  kin  shall  inherit.  But,  to  say 
the  most  of  it,  it  is  r.ot  worthy  of  even  a  passing  consideration 
when  dealing  with  the  important  matter  of  restoring  to  the 
people  their  natural  rights.  Again,  one  cannot  'accumulate 
wealth,  especially  great  wealth,  outside  of  society.  He  is 
therefore  largely  indebted  to  society  for  it,  and  society  is 
justly  entitled  to  a  greater  share  in  the  distribution  than  those 
who  owe  him  nothing.  The  owners  of  wealth  are  not  only 
indebted  to  society  for  much  of  it,  but  it  is  chiefly  its  con- 
nection with  society  that  renders  it  valuable.  Rockefeller's 
wealth  would  be  greatly  depreciated  if  it  were  suddenly  trans- 
ferred to  the  regions  occupied  by  the  wild  tribes  of  the  Sou- 
dan, saying  nothing  of  the  fact  that  he  could  never  have  accu- 
mulated such  a  fortune  there. 

Looking  at  the  matter  as  we  will  from  anything  like  a 
reasonable  standpoint  our  first  proposition  is  true :  the  land 
with  all  its  natural  resources  is  the  natural  heritage  of  all 
the  people;  and  nothing  can  justly  keep  them  out  of  posses- 
sion, unless  we  admit  that  the  necessities  of  civilization  de- 
mand the  slavery  which  its  concentrated  private  ownership 


8o  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

imposes,  and  which  necessity,  of  course  must  end  when  some- 
thing better  is  provided  to  take  its  place.  So  far  as  their 
right  to  the  earth  and  its  natural  resources  is  concerned,  each 
generation  comes  into  the  world  with  the  same  rights  as 
every  other  generation. 

Second,  "Wealth  justly  belongs  to  those  who  produce 
it."  Obviously,  this  proposition  is  a  direct  corollary  of  the 
first  and  must  stand  or  fall  with  it;  and  if,  as  we  think,  the 
first  is  established  beyond  question,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
about  the  second.  And  as  sure  as  this  is  true,  just  so  sure  is 
it  true  that  the  great  bulk  of  aggregated  wealth  belongs  to 
the  great  mass  of  working  people  from  whom  it  was  drawn. 
In  applying  this  principle  under  Socialism  it  is  proposed  to 
regard  as  producers  all  those  who  aid  in  the  production  and 
distribution,  all  who,  by  either  mental  or  physical  effort  in 
any  way  minister  to  the  wants  of  man.  Socialism  also  pro- 
poses to  modify  this  proposition  in  relation  to  the  disabled, 
those  who  are  prenatally  defective  in  either  body  or  mind  and 
those  incapacitated  for  any  productive  effort  by  reason  of 
mental  or  bodily  infirmity  resulting  from  disease,  accident  or 
old  age.  Socialism  proposes  to  put  the  whole  body  politic 
upon  the  plane  of  a  great  insurance  company,  so  that  the 
contributions  of  society  to  the  disabled  may  be  considered, 
not  as  a  charitable  gift  to  them,  but  as  their  right,  their  insur- 
ance, and  by  that  means,  protect  them  from  the  humiliation 
of  being  regarded  as  the  pitiful  objects  of  charity,  as  in  our 
present  society.  There  is  a  humiliation  in  stretching  forth  the 
hand  for  assistance  as  an  object  of  charity  which  inflicts  a 
degree  of  suffering  that  is  unbearable,  and  it  is  the  manifest 
duty  of  society  to  provide  if  practicable  against  this  suffering, 
which  could  be  easily  done  under  a  Socialist  administration. 

But  there  is  another  reason  that  comes  in  back  of  this. 
Leaving  out  the  question  as  to  whether  wealth  should  pass 
by  individual  inheritance,  let  us  consider  that  a  large  part  of 
the  value  attached  to  all  wealth  comes  from  the  fact  of  its 
being  in  society,  and  that  whatever  part  that  is,  society  has 
a  just  claim  on  it  to  that  extent  and  should  inherit  accord- 
ingly ;  and,  that  whether  society  as  a  whole  receives  it  or 
not,  if  it  is  justly  entitled  to.it,  then  the  next  generation  has 
a  just  right  to  it  by  inheritance  from  the  former  generation, 
and  that  the  unfortunate  justly  inherit  their  equal  right  not 
only  to  the  earth  and  its  natural  resources  and  to  the  pub- 
licly owned  product,  but-  also  to  their  part  of  the  private  sur- 
plus which  the  public  should  but  does  not  receive.  But,  after 
all,  such  inheritance  does  not  alter  their  dependence*  except- 
ing to  divide  it  between  the  past  and  present  generations. 
But,  we  ask,  what  has  been  done  for  the  unfortunate? 


JUSTICE    AND    BENEVOLENCE  81 

Nothing,  practically  nothing.  The  only  thing  that  I  have 
heard  of  worthy  of  note  is  the  old  age  pension  of  New  Zea- 
land, of  25  cents  per  day  to  all  native  born. mendicant  citizens 
over  sixty-five  years  of  age.  (and  I  believe  there  is  also  a 
similar  provision  in  Australia.)  And  this  measure  has  been 
blazed  around  the  world  as  a  wonderfully  magnificent  ex- 
ample of  state  benevolence.  Many  are  the  heads  that  have 
shaken  in  doubt  of  the  wisdom  of  such  a  venture.  Even 
under  our  present  industrial  system  the  governments  of  the 
earth  could  adopt  this  principle,  but  unfortunately,  nearly  all 
so  far  have  been  conducted  in  the  interest  of  the  wealthy 
classes  who  do  not  take  to  the  idea.  Capitalism  is  not  built 
.that  way.  As  to  providing  for  the  general  welfare,  capital- 
ism is  a  signal  failure,  and  is  therefore  impracticable.  But 
what  of  Socialism?  Socialism  proposes  to  do  this  very  iden- 
tical thing;  and  it  would  succeed  far  better  than  capitalism 
could  if  it  tried ;  for  Socialism  would  rid  society  of  that  indus- 
trial oppression  that  stultifies  manhood  and  causes  some  to 
feign  misfortune.  Socialism  proposes  to  apply  this  insurance 
idea  to  its  fullest  extent,  which  it  could  easily  do,  while  capi- 
talism opposes  it  and  could  not  so  easily  do  it  if  it  would.  If 
capitalism  should  attempt  it,  there  would  be  unavoidably  more 
or  less  corruption,  while  under  Socialism  there  would  be 
practically  no  reason  for  corruption.  And  I  see  no  reason 
why  the  people  should  not  desire  the  continuance  of  the 
measure.  On  this  point  then,  the  providing  for  the  welfare 
of  the  unfortunate,  Socialism  is  perfectly  practicable. 

Third,  ''Human  welfare  is  the  highest  basis  of  right." 
Here  is  the  highest  principle  of  all.  It  is  the  unselfish,  the 
brotherhood  principle.  It  is' the  principle  which  recognizes  the 
fact  and  acts  on  the  recognition,  that  "the  life  and  happiness 
of  others  is  just  as  valuable  as  mine."  The  principles  of 
justice  are  high  principles,  but  that  of  brotherhood  is  higher; 
and  nolh withstanding  the  fact  that  so  far,  practically  all 
industrial  and  most  political  action  has  been  based  on  the 
lower,  selfish  principles,  yet  in  our  present  society  this 
brotherhood  principle  is  recognized  in  various  ways.  The 
theoretical  motto  of  all  democracies,  "the  greatest  good  to 
the  greatest  number,"  is  one  form  of  expression  for  this  prin- 
ciple. In  time  of  war  all  nations  recognize  it  when  they  call 
for  men  to  offer  their  lives  a  sacrifice  for  the  general  welfare, 
and  those  who  respond  recognize  it  by  tlreir  action  in  doing 
so,  and  this  latter  is  the  encouraging  feature  of  it.  It  proves 
it  to  be  a  living,  acting,  moving  force,  this  principle  of 
brotherhood.  The  history  of  the  past  shows  that  all  along  it 
has  been  a  very  potent  force  under  certain  conditions ;  that 
it  is  naturally  strong;  that  though  continually  smothered  and 


82  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

trampled  into  the  dust  in  the  competitive  struggle,  it  has 
remained  so  strong  that  it  could  nearly  always  be  relied  on 
in  time  of  war  or  great  public  danger.  Experience  also  shows 
that  the  higher  the  civilization  the  stronger  the  manifest- 
ation of  brotherhood  has  been.  This  is  another  very  encour- 
aging feature.  Socialism  proposes  to  use  this  principle  for 
all  it  is  worth;  and,  discarding  competition  with  all  its  bale- 
ful influences,  to  second  and  cultivate  the  brotherhood  prin- 
ciple by  a  brotherly  co-operation  in  production  and  adherence 
to  justice  in  distribution.  If  the  principle  of  brotherhood  has 
remained  even  but  half  alive  during  the  past,  what  might  it 
not  accomplish  in  so  radically  improved  an  environment? 
Pessimistic  indeed  must  be  the  student  of  Socialism  who  can 
see  nothing  in  this  to  inspire  hope. 

We  have  reached  a  point  in  civilization  where  we  must 
either  take  a  step  forward,  or  we  must  fall  backward.  The 
people  are  preparing  to  step  forward,  and  the  capitalists, 
through  the  press,  the  politicians,  etc.,  are  laying  snares  to 
trip  them  at  the  first  step.  We  have  come  to  the  point  where 
there  is  a  great  emergency.  We  have  discovered  that  we 
are  a  nation  of  slaves.  Many  millions  are  crying  aloud  under 
the  lash  of  rigorous  and  cruel  taskmasters.  Misery  and  want 
stalk  abroad  at  noonday  and  are  found  in  the  very  shadow  of 
the  greatest  piles  of  wealth  the  world  has  ever  known.  From 
the  factory,  mine  and  tenement  house,  from  every  quarter 
where  abides  a  son  of  toil,  comes  the  sad  wail  of  despair, 
accompanied  by  the  cry,  "Let  us  have  a  change  and  let  there 
be  no  unnecessary  delay."  A  perfectly  practicable  way  out 
of  our  bondage  has  been  discovered.  It  may  no  longer  be 
said  that  slavery  in  some  form  is  necessary  in  order  that  the 
wheels  of  progress  may  continue  to  roll,  for  a  perfectly 
feasible  method  has  been  devised  whereby  the  work  of  civili- 
zation may  be  pushed  happily  forward  by  the  more  than  will- 
ing hands  of  freemen.  The  plan  of  a  system  has  been  pro- 
posed, under  which  all  poverty  will  cease,  together  with  all 
the  misery,  squalor,  degradation  and  crime  that  goes  with  it. 
The  first  step  in  the  introduction  of  this  system  is  the  acquisi- 
tion of  all  our  industries  which  are  now  in  the  possession  of 
private  persons.  And  here  the  enemy  gets  in  his  first 
work.  The  present  owners  of  wealth  ask  arrogantly,  "How 
are  you  going  to  get  possession?  And  then  the  weak  ones 
repeat  meekly  after  them,  "Yes,  sure  enough,  how  are  we 
going  to  get  possession?"  This  is  one  of  the  snares  by  which 
they  seek  to  cause  the  people  to  stumble  and  fall  back.  When 
there  is  a  great  national  emergency,  that  is  to  say,  when  there 
is  something  that  these  autocrats  want  which  must  be  pur- 
chased with  blood,  then  they,  through  the  government  which 


ACQUIRING    POSSESSION  83 

they  own,  declare  that  there  is  a  great  emergency  and  call 
upon  the  people  to  volunteer,  and  if  they  do  not  respond  in 
sufficient  numbers,  then  they  compel  them  to  go  forth  to  the 
slaughter  and  sacrifice  their  lives  for  the  "general  welfare." 
Now,  we  have  a  greater  emergency  than  ever  confronted  any 
nation  in  all  the  history  of  the  past.  Now  the  people  are' call- 
ing upon*  the  masters  to  make  a  sacrifice.  Do  they  respond? 
Yes,  with  sneers  and  jeers  and  taunts.  They  are  not  asked 
to  risk  their  lives ;  only  to  contribute  their  wealth  that  a 
whole  nation  may  be  made  happy.  And  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  they  themselves  would  see  far  more  enjoyment 
in  life  than  they  now  do.  Even  if  they  are  justly  entitled  to 
all  their  wealth,  they  ought  to  be  willing  to  do  this.  Why 
not?  Is  wealth  more  sacred  than  human  welfare?  But  they 
are  not  justly  entitled  to  it.  By  every  rule  having  even  the 
semblance  of  justice  they  are  cut  off.  Even  by  the  lower 
ideals  of  justice  heretofore  held  by  the.  people  their  claim 
cannot  stand,  and  when  we  apply  those  higher  principles  con^ 
tained  in  the  three  foregoing  propositions  their  claims  melt 
like  snow  before  a  summer's  sun.  The  land  with  its  re- 
sources is  the  people's  by  natural  indefeasible  right.  The 
capital  and  all  forms  of  wealth  is  theirs  because  they  produced 
it.  Lastly,  their  welfare,  the  general  welfare,  the  highest 
basis  of  right  demands  it,  demands  its  own. 


CHAPTER  XL 
ACQUIRING  POSSESSION. 

Since  the  methods  of  acquiring  possesion  of  the  indus- 
tries, as  well  as  the  methods  of  operating  them,  must  be 
determined  by  the  will  of  the  majority  at  the  time  Socialism 
is  inaugurated,  we  Socialists,  who  are  now  largely  in  the 
minority,  cannot  say  accurately  and  positively  just  what 
those  methods  will  be.  We,  who  are  now  Socialists,  may 
agree  as  to  what  we  consider  the  best  methods  only  to  see 
them  set  aside  and  others  substituted  by  those  who  join  our 
movement  later.  But  since  people  require  first  to  be  shown 
the  practicability  of  Socialism,  it  is  necessary  to  devote  con- 
siderable space  to  the  Socialistic  program,  and  it  is  quite 
possible  that  the  majority  may  see  their  way  clear  to  proceed 
with  a  program  that  is  somewhat  inferior  before  they  could 
be  induced  to  adopt  what  is  really  the  best;  and  this  point 
should  not  be  overlooked,  for  it  does  not  matter  so  much  how 
Socialism  starts,  so  it  begins  with  a  set  of  methods  that  prove 
to  be  practicable. 


84  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

How  are  we  to  get  possession?  is  generally  one  of  the 
first  questions  that  pops  up  before  the  mind  of  the  student 
of  Socialism.  Someone  has  said  that  the  best  way  to  do  a 
thing  is  to  do  it.  For  many  years  prior  to  our  great  civil 
strife,  the  great  question  that  agitated  the  nation  was  how 
to  free  the  negro.  Finally,  the  question  was  settled  by  simply 
setting  him  free.  So  it  will  be  in  the  matter  of  getting  pos- 
session of  our  industries.  When  the  time  comes,  the  people 
will  settle  it  by  taking  possession.  I  was  about  to  say,  by 
simply  taking  possession,  but  there  is  the  question  to  be  de- 
cided,, whether  it  shall  be  directly  or  indirectly,  suddenly  or 
gradually ;  as  to  the  question  of  taking  possesion  there  can 
be  no  doubt.  If  we  ever  get  possession,  we  must  take  posses- 
sion. There  is  a  little  tract  entitled,  "Methods  of  Acquiring 
Possession  of  our  National  Industries,"  by  N.  A.  Richardson, 
which  it  would  be  well  for  those  who  are  not  clear  on  this 
subject  to  procure  and  read;  for  they  will  find  it  more  elabo- 
rately treated  there  than  we  have  space  for  here.  The  author 
names  four  methods:  i.  Confiscation;  2.  Competition;  3.  Pur- 
chase ;  4.  Pension.  To  acquire  possession  by  the  first  of  these 
methods  would  be  simply  taking  possession,  or  taking  posses- 
sion directly.  The  second  is  somewhat  indirect  and  complex. 
In  this  it  is  proposed  that  the  government  become  a  competitor, 
build  rival  establishments  to  compete  with  those  privately 
owned,  operate  them  in  the  interest  of  the  people,  that  is  to 
say,  at  cost,  eliminating  all  profits,  and,  by  competition  also 
eliminating  all  profits  from  the  privately  owned  plants,  so 
that  their  owners,  seeing  they  had  become  worthless  to  them- 
selves, would  be  ready  to  turn  them  over  to,  the  government 
for  a  mere  nominal  sum.  According  to  our  present  day 
methods  of  doing-  business  and  our  present  standards  of 
honor,  this  method  would  be  perfectly  legitimate  and  honor- 
able. Of  course  the  owners  of  the  private  plants  would 
clamor  for  a  recompense,  but  measured  by  our  present  stand- 
ards, none  would  be  due,  any  more  than  to  the  vanquished 
where  a  great  corporation  organized  by  the  capitalists, 
crushes  all  its  little  antagonists.  It  would  be  a  case  of  the 
people  beating  the  capitalists  at  their  own  game,  and  the 
latte-  should  stand  pat  and  not  scmeal.  Nevertheless,  it 
would  be  but  confiscation  under  another  name.  The  fourth 
method  mentioned  is  for  the  government  to  take  the  property 
and  compensate  the  j^reat  capitalists  in  part  bv  "mutiny  them 
pensions  which  shall  cease  with  the  expiration  of  their  natural 
lives,  and  let  that  end  it.  We  readily  see  that  this  method 
also  is  but  another  plan  of  confiscation.  It  proposes  begin- 
ning with  a  direct,  partial  confiscation,  which  is  to  become 
complete  a  little  further  on. 


ACQUIRING    POSSESSION  85 

But  there  is  still  another  method.  We  have  reserved  it 
until  the  last  because  it  is  the  popular  method.  By  many  it 
is  called  the  method,  and  by  considerable  numbers  who  have 
very  little  comprehension  of  the  situation  it  is  called  the  only 
honest  method.  I  refer  to  the  third  method  treated  by  Com- 
rade Richardson,  the  purchase  method.  Many,  even  those 
who  have  devoted  some  attention  to  the  study  of  the  justice 
of  Socialism  and  the  injustice  of  capitalism  regard  this  as  the 
very  best  method,  the  cheapest,  the  safest,  the  "peaceable 
method."  "Let  us,"  they  say,  "pay  the  holders  of  wealth  for 
its  full  value  as  a  matter  of  sound  policy,  even  if  they  do  not 
deserve  it."  And  then  they  point  to  the  fact  that  it  would 
have  been  far  cheaper  from  a  money  point  of  view  and  have 
saved  the  spilling  of  much  precious  blood,  to  have  paid  the 
slave  owners  every  cent  the  slaves  were  worth  and  even  more. 
This  sounds  nice  and  this  is  the  reason  it  is  so  popular.  But 
before  considering  this  matter  as  settled  let  us  follow  this  line 
of  thought  to  its  legitimate  conclusion.  I  have  no  objection 
to  being  careful  to  adopt  a  "peaceable  method;"  but  I  am 
fully  convinced  that  the  safest  course  is  for  a  very  large  part 
of  the  people  to  understand  as  thoroughly  as  possible  the 
whole  situation  as  it  is.  Next  to  vice,  ignorance  is  the  most 
dangerous  thing  in  the  world.  Nearly  all  the  devastating 
wars  of  the  past  might  have  been  avoided  if  the  people  had  not 
been  ignorant.  Just  what,  then,  does  it  mean,  this  proposi- 
tion to  pay  the  holders  of  wealth  every  dollar  their  holdings 
are  worth  ? 

As  we  have  alrea-dy  observed,  that  and  that  only  which 
makes  wealth  valuable,  is  the  power  which  it  confers  upon 
the  holder  to  command  the  services  of  others.  This  is  what 
made  the  title  to  the  chattel  slave  valuable  to  the  master,  and 
what  makes  the  title  to  all  forms  of  property,  especially  that 
of  the  great  capitalists,  valuable  to  the  holders  now.  As 
already  mentioned,  one-tenth  of  the  people  of  our  country 
own  nine-tenths  of  the  wealth.  Practically  speaking  then, 
one-tenth  are  able  to  command  the  services  of  all  the  rest. 
But  this  is  not  the  worst.  When  we  consider  that  a  very 
large  majority  of  this  one-tenth  are  lower  middle  class  and 
rather  small  farmers  and  business  men,  whose  services  are 
commanded  indirectly,  but  commanded  just  as  surely,  when 
we  consider  this,  it  becomes  evident  that  a  much  smaller 
number,  probably  not  over  a  million,  are  able  to  command 
practically  all  the  services  of  the  other  eighty  millions.  That 
is  precisely  what  the  slave  master  did  with  the  chattel  slave. 
There  is  a  little  difference  in  the  details,  it  is  true.  We  eighty 
million  white  slaves  have  on  an  average,  somewhat  better 
food,  clothing  and  shelter.  (A  very  large  proportion  of  the 


86  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

lower  strata  of  us  have  not),  but  nearly  all  of  us  work  harder 
than  the  black  slaves  did,  and  when  it  comes  to  care  and 
anxiety,  we  are  nearly  all  under  a  strain  to  which  the  black 
slave  was  a  total  stranger.  If  there  had  been  no  interruption 
of  the  slave  master's  title,  his  power  over  the  slave  would 
have  been  perpetual.  So  also  in  our  present  case,  unless 
there  shall  be  some  interruption  of  the  capital  master's  title, 
his  power  over  the  eighty  million  white  slaves  must  be  per- 
petual 

Let  one  million  of  the  wealthiest  people  in  this  country 
league  themselves  together  and  stand  loyally  by  each  other, 
and  they  would  be  able  to  inflict  upon  the  remaining  eighty 
millions  a  bondage  more  galling  than  the  black  slave  ever 
knew;  and  the  bondage  would  be  perpetual;  no  power  on 
earth,  save  one,  would  enable  them  to  throw  it  off.  "And 
what  is  that  one?"  I  imagine  I  hear  from  a  great  clamorous 
confusion  of  voices,  Oh,  never  mind,  it  doesn't  matter. 
"What !"  you  say,  "eighty  million  people  in  a  rigorous  and 
perpetual  bondage,  you  know  of  a  way  out  and  refuse  to  tell 
us  what  it  is?  What  do  you  mean?"  I  mean  simply  this; 
that  the  only  way  under  the  sun  by  which  we  could  extricate 
ourselves  would  be  to  capture  the  government.  "Oh,  that's 
easy,"  you  say.  Yes,  that  is  very  easy  when  a  majority  agree 
together  to  do  it.  What  then?  "Oh,  to  be  sure,  we  would  at 
once  proceed  to  enact  a  system  of  laws  that  would  lift  the 
yoke  from  our  necks."  Be  careful !  be  careful !  Don't  you 
know  you  are  treading  on  dangerous  ground?  You  are  talk- 
ing confiscation;  for  any  legal  interference  by  which  you 
escape  any  part  of  the  services  previous!;  commanded  by  the 
capitalists,  depreciates  the  value  of  their  holdings  by  that 
much  and  is  to  that  extent  a  confiscation.  "Confiscation  or 
no  confiscation,  we  will  not  endure  a  galling  bondage.  Con- 
fiscation is  better  than  perpetual  slavery."  Yes,  that  is  what 
I  thought  from  the  start,  and  I  have  taken  so  much  pains  and 
have  occupied  so  much  space  in  order  to  make  this  point 
plain,  because  I  know  that  even  among  Socialists  there  are 
many  who  talk  loudly  about  being  enslaved,  and  yet  do  not 
believe  the  half  of  it ;  and  that  when  they  come  to  know  and 
comprehend  the  whole  situation  fully,  so  tame  a  word  as 
confiscation  will  have  no  further  terrors  for  them.  I  trust  I 
have  made  it  plain  to  any  thinking  person  who  reads  care- 
fully, that  no  legal  interruption  being  permitted,  the  value  of 
the  wealth  held  by  the  plutocratic  one  million  at  the  top,  can, 
practically  speaking,  only  be  measured  by  the  perpetual  and 
undivided  services  of  the  eighty  millions  below  them,  and  that 
therefore  it  is  utterly  out  of  the  question  for  them  to  buy 
their  freedom.  Any  method  by  which  we  may  dispossess  the 


ACQUIRING    POSSESSION  87 

present  holders  of  great  wealth  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of 
the  whole  people,  amounts  to  a  confiscation ;  and  such  con- 
fiscation would  be  right,  for  it  would,  in  reality  be,  on  the 
whole,  wresting  the  wealth  from  the  hands  of  usurpers  and 
restoring  it  to  its  rightful  owners.  I  know  that  the  capitalist 
dislikes  very  much  the  confiscation  idea,  and  it  may  be  that 
the  people  may  adopt 'the  competitive  method,  the  purchase 
method  or  some  other  indirect  method,  and  may,  many  of 
them,  be  deceived  into  thinking  that  they  are  avoiding  con- 
fiscation, but  they  will  not  be  able  to  deceive  the  capitalists. 
They  will  understand  the  situation  perfectly  and  will  use  it 
for  all  it  is  worth  in  trying  to  confuse  the  people.  My  opin- 
ion is  that  it  were  better  for  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
to  thoroughly  comprehend  the  whole  situation  and  make  a 
square  open  fight  on  the  merits  of  the  case. 

At  present  the  popular  tendency  is  to  look  for  some  sort 
of  gradual  method  of  acquisition  and,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to 
see,  such  a  course  may  possibly  be  the  best  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances that  arise  when  the  choice  is  made,  but,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  several  obstacles  are  liable  to  arise  in  applying 
the  gradual  process.  In  the  first  place,  Socialism  proposes  a 
radical  change  and  any  gradual  process  of  effecting  it  would 
necessitate  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  the  sewing  of  new  cloth 
onto  an  old  garment,  by  which  the  rent  might  be  made  worse. 
In  the  second  place,  any  decisive  step  of  the  people  looking 
toward  the  establishment  of  Socialism,  would  tend  to  demor- 
alize what  is  left  of  capitalism.  The  capitalists  might  consider 
the  whole  matter  as  settled  and  many  of  them  might  cease  to 
take  much  further  interest,  to  the  material  lessening  of  pro- 
duction ;  or,  in  the  third  place,  they  might  use  the  power 
which  their  remaining  wealth  would  confer  to  confuse  the 
people,  make  them  believe  that  the  Socialistic  efforts  were  a 
failure  and  cause  them  to  desire  a  return  to  the  old  order,  to 
the  flesh  pots  of  capitalism. 

There  may  be  some  things,  possibly  many  things,  bearing 
on  this  point,  which  I  fail  to  consider,  and  consequently,  draw 
a  wrong  conclusion,  but  considering  the  probable  difficulties 
named  above  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  it 
would  be  better  to  make  practically  the  whole  change  at  one 
step  or  one  leap  or  bound  if.  you  prefer  the  term.  I  know 
that  many  will  say  in  answer  to  this — "too  stupendously  big 
a  step  to  take  all  at  once." 

But  is  it,  will  it  be?  Let  us  consider  that  no  decisive  step 
can  be  taken  till  the  people  come  to  understand  Socialism 
and  the  necessity  for  it  sufficiently  to  make  them  desirous  of 
taking  the  step.  This  educational  work  is  part  of  the  gradual 


88  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

process  work  that  is  now  moving1  steadily  on.  The  other  part 
of  it  is  the  gradual  development  by  the  trust,  of  the  new 
co-operative  garment,  which  is  so  shrouded  by  the  old  selfish 
capitalistic  rag  that  it  discovers  to  our  view  "neither  beauty 
nor  comeliness  that  we  should  desire  it."  But  when  the  edu- 
cational process  has  been  completed  and  the  tattered  old  gar- 
ment of  capitalism  has  been  torn  off  of  fallen  by  reason  of  its 
own  weight  and  rottenness,  then  the  new  garment,  having 
received  the  touches  of  the  pure  and  unselfish  principles  of 
the  new  era,  will  disclose  to  our  view  a  degree  of  youthful 
beauty  as  yet  unknown  to  earth ;  not  perfect  beauty ;  perfec- 
tion will  require  the  work  of  time.  There  will  probably  be  a 
very  great  difference  between  the  earlier  stages  of  Socialism 
and  its  later  development.  The  preparatory  work  having 
been  accomplished,  the  transition  will  perhaps  be  a  mere  inci- 
dent, an  important  one  to  be  sure,  but  not  so  important  as  the 
casting,  counting  and  declaring  of  labor's  finally  victorious 
ballot.  I  see  no  reason  why  the  people  should  not  carry  t  an 
election  in  November,  and  by  March  have  practically  all  the 
industries  organized  except  farming  where  the  land  is  held 
in  small  tracts.  It  will  probably  be  arranged  for  the  small 
farmers  to  go  on  somewhat  in  the  old  way  for  a  time,  each 
one  using  what  land  he  can  cultivate  himself,  receiving  such 
sum  for  the  product  as  the  government  may  adjudge  to  be 
just,  and  this  for  three  reasons:  First,  it  will  probably  require 
some  little  time  to  arrange  for  the  most  successful  application 
of  the  new  methods  of  agriculture  which  will  come  in  under 
Socialism.  Second,  the  small  farms,  being  cut  up  into  small 
fields,  small  pastures,  small  orchards,  etc.,  will  not  yield  so 
readily  to  the  application  of  large  scale  methods.  Third,  the 
small  farmer  will  be  the  last  to  desire  an  exchange  of  private 
enterprise  for  a  position  in  the  public  service.  The  larger 
farmers  will  not  care  to  keep  their  farms,  because  the  govern- 
ment, as  the  principal  employer  of  labor,  will  set  the  example 
of  giving  the  laborer  the  full  product  of  his  toil;  the  farmer 
will  be  compelled  to  do  the  same,  and  rather  than  do  this 
or  take  just  what  he  can  work  alone,  he  will  generally  prefer 
to  take  a  position  in  the  government  service  where  more 
profitable  methods  can  be  applied.  -From  this  class  will  prob- 
ably come,  the  first  corps  of  public  farm  managers,  overseers 
and  foremen.  Later,  each  young  man  will  receive  thorough 
special  training  for  the  particular  kind  of  work  he  expects  to 
do.  By  the  time  the  government  gets  ready  to  operate  the 
small  farms,  the  small  farmers  will  be  very  glad  to  give  up 
their  private  holdings  and  take  the  much  better  paying  posi- 
tions in  the  government  service. 

And  again  we  pause  to  ask,  why  should  not  labor  take 


ACQUIRING    POSSESSION  89 

possession  of  its  own,  which  it  has  purchased  over  and  over 
by  many  generations  of  slavery? 

And  now  while  writing  this  come  the  papers  with  the 
announcement  of  President  Roosevelt's  "Muck  Rake  speech," 
in  which  he  proposes  to  lop  off  a  slice  from  all  vast  fortunes 
by  a  progressive  tax  on  all  inheritances  beyond  a  certain 
amount.  This  is  followed  by  Ex-Senator  Turner's  advocacy 
of  the  calling  of  a  national  convention  for  the  purpose  of  revis- 
ing and  amending  our  constitution.  Also,  through  a  religious 
paper,  comes  the  following,  the  writer  referred  to  being  un- 
known to  me : 

"Comment  has  been  made  again  upon  the  power  of  judicial  author- 
ity as  against  the  legislative,  in  instances  where  the  constitutionality  of 
laws  is  to  be  passed  upon.  A  case  is  cited  in  which  seven  judges,  if  the 
decision  was  unanimous,  overruled  the  authority  of  the  Governor  and  120 
legislators,  which  was  supported  by  ninty-nine-hundredths  of  a  suffering 
public.  The  remedy  proposed  in  the  following  paragraph  may  or  may 
not  be  the  best,  but  if  its  closing  statement  is  true,  some  sort  of  remedy 
is  imperatively  demanded. 

"There  is  an  increasing  number  of  people  who  firmly  believe  that 
the  best  thing  which  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  several 
States,  could  do,  is  to  abrogate  every  word  of  our  much-vaunted  con- 
stitutions, except  the  clauses  constituting  the  governments,  and  let  each 
generation  enact  such  laws  as  it  deems  best  to  meet  conditions  as  they 
exist,  as  is  done  in  Canada,  Great  Britain  and  most  other  countries,  and 
every  such  decision  as  that  of  our  Supreme  Court  in  the  cases  referred  to 
makes  converts  to  that  doctrine.  The  'Constitution'  is  invoked  twenty 
times  to  sustain  a  fraud,  perpetuate  an  abuse  or  enable  some  criminal  to 
escape  the  fangs  of  the  law  for  once  that  it  is  used  in  the  interests  of 
the  public." 

Since  these  all  fit  into  our  subject  at  this  point,  we  will 
pause  and  consider  them.  And  I  must  say  that  it  is  a  source 
of  no  little  gratification  to  me,  while  advocating  the  principle 
of  confiscation,  which  I  realize  must  call  forth  upon  my  head 
the  anathemas  of  capitalism,  to  find  myself  in  such  distin- 
guished company ;  for  what  is  the  lopping  off  of  big  chunks 
from  great  fortunes  by  providing  that  no  one  shall  inherit 
beyond  a  certain  amount,,  but  a  confiscation  of  the  chunk 
cut  off?  What  is  any  income  tax,  graduated  or  simple;  and, 
for  that  matter,  what  is  any  tax,  but  a  confiscation?  Once 
admit  the  principle  of  taking  private  property  for  publicise, 
as  we  do  in  all  current  forms  of  taxation,  and  where  is  it  to 
end?  What  is  the  limit  of  taxation  beyond  which  it  would  be 
wrong  to  proceed  further?  To  answer  this  we  ask  wherein 
lies  the  right  to  tax  at  all?  "Oh,  the  public  good,"  "the  gen- 
eral welfare,"  you  say.  Certainly:  we  have  already  occupied 
some  space  trying  to'teach  that  human  welfare  is  the  highest 
basis  of  right.  Manifestly  then,  since  the  general  welfare 
is  the  basis  of  the  right  of  taxation,  the  limit  of  that  right  can 
only  be  measured  by  the  limit  of  the  general  welfare. 


90  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

Man,  by  constitutions  and  laws  may  set  bounds,  may 
prescribe  what  are  called  legal  rights,  but  from  a  moral  point 
of  view,  if  it  is  right  to  take  one-hundredth,  one-fiftieth,  or 
one-twentieth  of  private  property  for  public  use  because  the 
general  welfare  demands  it,  then  it  follows  necessarily,  that 
it  is  right  to  take  one-tenth,  one-fourth,  one-half  or  all  of 
private  property  whenever  the  general  welfare  demands  it. 
But  why  does  the  President  and  other  political  leaders  just  at 
this  juncture  come  out  more  radically  than  ever?  The 
answer  is  found  in  the  utterances  of  the  President,  who  says 
in  part:  "At  this  moment  we  are  passing  through  &c."  and 
further  on  he  says,  "There  is  coming  to  be  a  great  unrest." 
It  is  the  business  of  statesmen  to  study  closely  the  limits  of 
the  people's  patience.  The  reason  suggested  by  the  President 
is  about  the  only  one  that  ever  moves  statesmen  to  do  any- 
thing for  the  people  that  is  not  also  to  the  interest  of  them- 
selves and  the  capitalists  which  they  represent.  It  is  the 
same  reason  that  existed  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand  when 
the  people  were  threatening  to  capture  the  governments  by 
either  the  ballot  or  the  bullet.  It  is  the  same  reason  that 
existed  in  England  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago,  when, 
after  several  years  of  talking,  Mr.  Fox  walked  into  Parlia- 
ment one  morning  and  said  that  "something  must  be  done" ; 
giving  as  his  reasons  for  doing  "something,"  that  the  people 
were  suffering,  were  starving  in  fact,  and  that  they  were 
about  to  rise  in  rebellion.  The  last  was  the  only  real  reason. 
The  theory  is  that  it  is  cheaper  to  give  the  people  what  they 
must  have  than  have  them  take  it  themselves.  Of  course  it 
must  be  preceded  by  a  considerable  amount  of  talking;  and, 
like  preaching  "from  a  text,"  there  is  always  a  hope  that  they 
may  be  able  to  talk  from  the  subject,  interest  the  people  in 
something  else,  and  never  return  to  it  again.  Talk  is  cheap, 
but  usually,  capitalism  is  required  to  make  no  other  sacrifice 
than  that  which  is  found  in  "lip  service." 


CHAPTER  XII. 
LAW,  ORDER  AND  ORGANIZATION. 

It  has  been  said  that  "Order  is  heaven's  first  law." 
Whenever  any  considerable  number  of  material,  active,  mov- 
ing forces  operate  at  the  same  time  in  the  same  vicinity  and 
over  the  same  areas,  there  is  apt  to  be  more  or  less  of  dis- 
order ;  for  whenever  two  of  these  attempt  to  cross  each 
other's  path  at  the  same  time,  there  is  a  clash.  Generally, 
each  one  is  swerved  somewhat  from  its  course.  The  weaker 


LAW,    ORDER   AND    ORGANIZATION  91 

is  swerved  the  more.  Each  yields  more  or  less  to  the  other 
and  the  weaker  yields  the  more,  sometimes  nearly  all  its 
motion.  Man  is  such  a  force.  Human  beings  in  society  are 
material,  living,  moving  active  forces.  When  two  individual 
persons  or  groups  of  persons  pass  at  the  same  time  athwart 
each  other's  pathway  there  is  a  clash.  Each  is  swerved  some- 
what and  the  weaker  is  swerved  the  more.  Sometimes  he 
yields  nearly  all  his  motion  and  begins  to  move  along  with 
or  in  the  same  direction  as  the  stronger. 

But  man  is  an  intelligent  being.  He  has  a  mind  that 
directs  his  physical  action ;  and,  like  all  other  intelligent 
beings,  he  has  his  preferences,  his  likes  and  dislikes;  and 
having  these,  he  chooses  what  his  course  of  action  shall  be. 
And  so  when  one  such  person  or  group  of  persons  is  swerved 
from  a  chosen  course,  unless  the  preferences  are  changed, 
there  will  be  a  struggle  during  the  period  of  contact  and  an 
attempt  to  resume  the  original  course  afterward.  This  inter- 
vention of  intelligence  tends  to  cause  more  frequent  collisions. 
The  motives  which  prompt  the  preferences  are  multitudinous, 
but  may  be  summed  up  in  two  general  classes:  First,  those 
which  affect  one's  own  selfish  interests,  and  second,  those 
which  affect  the  recognized  rights  and  interests  of  others. 
The  first  may  be  called  selfish  motives  and  the  second  unsel- 
fish or  moral  motives.  Wherever  man's  moral  nature  is  suf- 
ficiently developed,  he  comes  to  recognize  some  actions  as 
right  and  others  as  wrong,  and,  at  times,  pursues  lines  of 
action  which  he  regards  as  against  his  own  selfish  interests, 
because  of  his  recognition  of  the  rights  belonging  to  others 
and  because  of  his  brotherly  sympathy  toward  them.  And 
herein  lies  another  cause  of  collision.  Whenever  man's  rec- 
ognized rights  are  trampled  in  the  dust  he  puts  up  a  moral 
protest  against  the  infringement  which  causes  an  irritation 
and  disorder  that  never  ceases  till  the  wrong  is  removed.  In 
such  case  the  irritation  is  a  good  thing  for  society.  It  is  the 
friendly  pain  that  prompts  to  the  removal  of  the  disease. 

,  No  human  society  can  have  perfect  order  nor  anything  ap- 
proaching perfection  unless  it  is  permeated  by  a  vein  of 
brotherly  human  sympathy  and  recognizes  in  a  practical 
way  the  rights  of  all. 

There  are  two  methods  by  which  irritation  and  disorder 
in  society  may  be  avoided :  First,  by  kindly  courteous  and 
mutual  concession  and  mutual  recognition  of  each  other's 

'  rights  and  interests.  This  method  has  sometimes  worked  tol- 
erably well,  but  only  where  there  is  a  healthy  moral  tone  and 
the  modes  of  life  are  simple;  where  there  is  much  complexity 
it  must  ever  prove  a  failure.  Second,  by  an  organized  co- 
operation, which,  arranging  the  lines  of  action  of  all  to  run 


92  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

parallel,  avoids  the  clashing  of  interests  which  would  other- 
wise occur.  In  other  words,  wherever  society  becomes  com- 
plicated it  should  be  organized  so  that  all  its  parts  may 
work  harmoniously  together  like  a  great  machine,  else  there 
can  be  no  great  degree  of  effectiveness. 

Competition  is  anarchistic.  It  has  no  law,  no  system, 
no  organized  method  of  action.  '  It  is  chaotic.  It  is  anarchy; 
for  anarchy  is  a  want  of  law,  lack  of  system,  lack  of  organiza- 
tion, a  confusion,  a  disorder.  Society  as  we  have  it  to-day 
is  mostly  anarchy.  After  all  the  thunderings  and  denuncia- 
tions against  anarchism  and  all  the  howling  for  law  and  order 
by  those  who  defend  what  is  called  the  competitive  system 
and  oppose  the  introduction  of  the  co-operative  system,  it  is  a 
fact  that  cannot  be  controverted  that  all  the  law  and  order, 
all  the  organization  that  exists  in  human  affairs  to-day,  in 
short,  all  that  is  not  anarchy,  is  the  result  of  the  co-operative 
principle.  Come  to  think  of  it  this  thought  seems  so  axiom- 
atic as  scarcely  to  require  expression.  Anarchy  represents 
disconcerted,  disorganized  action,  as  opposed  to  co-operation 
which  is  the  essence  of  concerted  or  organized  action.  Every 
organization  of  human  beings,  whether  it  be  national,  state, 
local,  municipal,  religious,  benevolent,  fraternal,  political, 
business  or  commercial,  is  a  co-operation.  And  every  nation, 
every  faction,  every  party  consisting  of  two  or  more  individ- 
uals is  a  co-operation ;  and  every  war,  strife,  or  contention 
between  nations,  factions  or  parties  with  the  disorder  growing 
out  of  them,  results  from  the  co-operation  being  incomplete. 
Where  co-operation  ends  disorder,  contention  and  anarchy 
begin.  In  a  true  sense  all  war  is  anarchy  in  the  fact  that  it 
produces  disorder,  but  most  of  those  who  engage  in  war  are 
not  anarchists  in  the  sense  of  desiring  to  dispense  with  all 
law.  Generally  those  who  oppose  existing  laws  do  so  because 
they  dislike  those  particular  laws  and  desire  to  substitute 
for  them  others  which  suit  them  better.  As  we  have  already 
seen,  co-operation  may  be  either  selfish  or  unselfish.  Gener- 
ally, the  co-operation  of  a  party  or  class  against  another  party 
or  class,  is  attended  with  more  or  less  of  injustice  and  op- 
pression exercised  by  the  dominating  party  or  class  against 
the  party  or  class  dominated.  Any  gross  injustice  or  oppres- 
sion is  sure  to  develop  sooner  or  later  more  or  less  social  dis- 
order;  and  so  long  as  injustice  and  oppression  exist,  there 
will  be  social  disorder,  social  disease,  and  the  only  way  to 
reduce  the  latter  to  the  minimum  is  by  reducing  the  former 
to  the  minimum.  For  the  purpose  of  providing  order  gov- 
ernments are  established.  The  primitive  condition  of  society 
was  one  of  pure  anarchy.  The  first  beginnings  of  govern- 
ment, the  first  steps  toward  civilization  were  very  simple. 


LAW,    ORDER    AXD    ORGANIZATION  93 

Every  advance  or  upward  step  was  a  step  toward  social  order, 
social  health,  social  organization.  At  a  very  early  period 
savages  were  formed  into  tribes  for  the  purpose  of  mutual 
defense  and  mutual  selfish  offense  against  their  enemies. 
The  tribal  movements  of  each  tribe  was^a  co-operation.  The 
co-operation  was  very  simple,  both  in  its  methods  and  its 
objects,  about  the  only  function  of  government  being  effect- 
iveness in  war ;  and  it  is  very  remarkable  how  long  that  con- 
tinued to  be  the  only  very  important  function,  and  how  very 
conspicuous  a  place  it  still  occupies  in  all  the  governments  of 
the  earth.  And  not  only  were  the  governments  of  the  savage 
tribes  confined  to  warlike  preparation  and  operations ;  but 
to  those  of  the  simplest  kind.  The  chieftain  simply  called 
about  him  his  tribesmen  and  led  them  forth  in  marauding 
expeditions  or  to  repel  the  incursions  of  their  enemies,  each 
one  furnishing  his  own  weapons  and  his  own  food,  or  his  own 
part  of  it,  and  serving  without  pay  except  when  there  were 
spoils  or  plunder  to  be  divided.  Next  came  the  confederation 
of  tribes  into  nations  having  the  functions  of  government 
enlarged  so  as  to  provide  more  elaborately  for  war  and  to 
include  some  things  which  were  partially  or  wholly  not  of  a 
warlike  character. 

As  about  all  the  early  nations  were  monarchies  there 
were  royal  houses  to  support.  Then  came  the  tax  gatherer. 
Taxes  must  be  levied  and  collected,  not  only  to  provide  for 
the  support  of  these  in  regal  splendor,  together  with  a  great 
retinue  of  both  civil  and  military  officials,  but  for  the  purpose 
of  arming,  equipping,  feeding  and  paying  vast  armies  both 
regular  and  special,  building  ships,  erecting  public  buildings 
and  other  public  works,  constructing  roads,  improving  rivers 
and  harbors,  etc.,  these  last  being  confined  for  the  most  part 
to  such  improvements  as  rendered  the  nation  more  effective 
in  war.  And  in  addition,  there  were  laws  and  police  regula- 
tions for  the  punishment  of  crime  and  the  protection  of  all 
citizens  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  or  what  were  called 
rights.  For  many  centuries,  in  fact  until  within  the  last 
century,  not  much  advancement  was  made  by  the  nations 
of  the  earth  beyond  this.  In  all  this  there  was  co-operation, 
law,  order  and  organization.  Let  us  note,  too,  that  in  the 
first  steps  toward  law,  order  and  organization,  there  was  a 
simple  co-operation.  Little  law,  little  order,  and  practically 
no  organization  was  required.  The  chief  gave  the  signal  and 
little  order  was  necessary  either  in  the  march  or  the  fight. 

Such  simple  methods,  however,  were  only  adapted  to 
the  operations  of  small  bodies  of  people.  They  were  entirely 
inadequate  to  meet  the  demands  of  larger  bodies  acting  in 
a  national  capacity;  Nations  could  not  conduct  wars  without 


94  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

military  organization.  People  could  not  live  together  in 
society  and  have  any  security  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights, 
especially  their  property  rights,  without  the  organization  of 
civil  government.  Even  with  it  there  was,  by  reason  of  the 
defective  and  unjust  laws  and  improper  enforcement,  gen- 
erally little  enough  security. 

During  the  past  century  the  most  highly  civilized  nations 
have  been  taking  some  steps  in  civil  government  beyond  mere 
police  regulations  for  making  the  people  secure  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  legal  rights.  We  now  have  public  highways  and 
bridges,  instead  of  toll  roads  and  bridges ;  publicly  owned 
and  managed  schools  and  colleges,  instead  of  those  privately 
owned  and  managed ;  public  postal  systems,  instead  of  pri- 
vate ones  and  in  nearly  all  the  leading  nations  public,  instead 
of  private  ownership  of  railroads,  telegraphs  and  telephones. 
Also  in  many  cities  and  towns,  there  is  municipal  ownership 
and  management  of  waterworks,  street  railways,  electric  light 
plants,  telephones  and  fire  extinguishing  appliances. 

Let  us  here  stop  and  carefully  note  several  very  impor- 
tant points. 

First,  under  both  private  and  public  ownership,  all  these 
things  were  and  are  publicly  used ;  that  is  to  say,  they  were 
and  are,  the  means  by  which  the  people's  wants  are  supplied. 

Second,  under  private  ownership  there  was  a  clash  of 
antagonistic  interests,  a  lack  of  organization,  lack  of  system 
and  lack  of  unity  of  interest  and  purpose  which  tended  to 
render  the  service  defective,  while  under  public  ownership 
there  is  systematic  organization  and  unity  of  interest  and 
purpose  which  is  generally  much  more  effective  and  satis- 
factory. 

Third,  under  private  ownership  the  only  object  being 
profits  for  the  owners,  there  was  little  regard  to  justice  and 
the  people's  interests  and  convenience,  the  officers  and  em- 
ployees being  expected  to  please  the  private  owners,  while 
under  public  ownership  the  only  object  is  service  to  the  pub- 
lic, the  managers  and  employees  being  responsible  to  and 
expected  to  please  the  people  who  are  the  owners. 

In  the  olden  time  most  of  the  people  were  farmers.  For 
the  most  part  the  farm  was  then  privately  used.  A  ver)r 
small  part  of  the  comforts  of  life  were  then  produced  by 
specialists.  The  farmer  produced  nearly  all  that  he  used  and 
usually  sold  only  enough  of  the  products  to  enable  him  to 
buy  the  few  things  he  needed  which  required  the  work  of 
specialists.  Now  it  is  different.  As  we  look  over  the  indus- 
trial field  to-day,  we  find  that  practically  all  the  industries 
are  publicly  used.  It  is  needless  to  enumerate  all  the  articles 
by  name.  You  know  them  as  well  as  I,  They  may  all  be 


LAW,    ORDER   AND    ORGANIZATION  95 

summed  up  in  the  one  word  service.  Most  of  the  labor  of 
civilized  man  is  performed  in  the  production  of  articles  of 
commerce,  and  whoever  bestows  such  labor  exercises  a  pub- 
lic function,  that  is  to  say,  he  performs  a  service  that  is  used 
by  many  people,  often  by  many  thousands  and  frequently  by 
many  millions.  So  then  we  find  that  almost  the  whole  indus- 
trial life  has  changed,  so  that  from  being  a  simple  affair  in 
which  each  one  for  the  most  part  serves  himself,  it  has  come 
to  be  a  complex,  a  complicated,  a  mutual  interchange  of  ser- 
vices by  all  those  who  perform  useful  labor.  Even  the  well- 
to-do  farmer  who  sometimes  thinks  himself  so  independent 
uses  the  services  of  millio'ns  of  others,  while  frequently  mil- 
lions of  others  use  his  services. 

Concerning  all  the  industries  now  privately  owned  a  very 
little  reflection  will  show  that  practically  all  of  them  are  gov- 
erned and  influenced  by  the  same  conditions  that  we  have 
mentioned  as  characterizing  the  others  while  they  were 'pri- 
vately owned.  There  is  the  same  clashing  of  antagonistic 
interests,  the  same  want  of  organization  and  system,  and  the 
same  want  of  unity  of  interest  and  purpose.  They  are  gov- 
erned by  the  same  single  motive  for  production,  namely, 
profits  to  the  private  owners.  There  is  the  same  want  of 
responsibility  to  the  people  and  the  same  disregard  of  justice 
and  the  people's  interests. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  in  some  places  where  it  was  pro- 
posed to  substitute  public  roads  and  bridges  for  private  ones, 
there  were  people  who  denounced  it  as  class  legislation,  say- 
ing, "Let  those  who  use  the  roads  most,  pay  most  for  such 
use ;  therefore  let  the  roads  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  pri- 
vate owners  who  will  be  interested  in  collecting  their  pay." 
And  there  was  logic  in  the  argument.  We  cannot  deny  that 
the  reasoning  was  good,  especially  in  the  light  of  the  super- 
ficial ideas  of  human  right  which  prevailed  then  and  still  pre- 
vail for  the  most  part  in  society  to-day.  In  the  absence  of 
any  other  reason  it  might  have  been  taken  as  conclusive,  but 
it  was  offset  by  reasons  on  the  other  side.  The  change  was 
made  under  the  protest  of  a  part  of  the  people.  But  who  now 
advocates  a  return  to  toll  roads  and  bridges. 

When  the  proposal  was  made  to  establish  public  instead 
of  private  schools,  there  was  wild  and  vehement,  almost  sav- 
age denunciation  of  the  scheme.  Some  of  these  opponents 
almost  tore  their  hair  in  rage.  "Class  legislation"  became 
but  a  sickly,  weak  expression.  "Robbery,"  "knavery"  and 
"thievery"  did  not  fill  the  bill.  In  fact  no  adjective  could 
be  found  that  was  adequate  to  express  their  indignation.  But 
how  is  it  now?  No  doubt  there  are  persons  now  who  would 
like  to  destroy  our  public  school  systems,  but  few  are  willing 


96  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

to  face  a  storm  of  public  indignation  and  express  their  oppo- 
sition. 

Before  the  national  postal  system  was  introduced  it  cost 
five  to  twenty  cents  to  send  a  letter  by  private  post.  Not 
only  was  it  expensive,  but,  being  unorganized,  the  service 
was  uncertain,  unsatisfactory  and  poor.  Yet  the  proposal  to 
nationalize  it  was  met  with  opposition.  "It  will  bankrupt  the- 
government/'  they  said.  But  to  oppose  it  now  would  be  to 
become  a  candidate  for  the  insane  asylum.  Government 
ownership  of  railways,  telegraphs  and  telephones  have  been 
receiving  the  same  opposition.  It  has  been  hooted  and  de- 
nounced vehemently.  Yet  the  opposition  is  rapidly  diminish- 
ing in  this  country,  and  its  popularity  is  making  a  phenom- 
enal growth.  In  those  countries  where  government  owner- 
ship is  in  operation,  it  seems  to  give  satisfaction.  Some 
American  travellers  in  central  Europe  find  fault  with  the 
cheapness  and  unkept  condition  of  the  cars,  but  this  to  my 
mind  only  proves  the  success  of  the  experiment,  proves  that 
it  is  conducted  with  a  view  of  pleasing  the  people ;  for,  a  very 
great  part  of  the  people  being  poor,  the  main  necessary  feat- 
ure for  pleasing  them  must  be  cheapness.  The  uncomfortable 
accommodations  signify  little  to  people  who  are  unable  to 
afford  better  at  home.  As  to  municipal  ownership,  I  have  had 
little  opportunity  for  personal  observation  and  have  taken  no 
pains  to  investigate  it ;  but  it  seems  to  be  an  improvement 
over  private  ownership,  notwithstanding  the  power  of  cor- 
porate greed  and  capitalistic  chicanery. 

And  so  it  has  been  all  along  the  way.  Every  advance  has 
been  made  in  the  face  of  fierce  opposition.  At  every  step  a 
motley  crowd,  headed  by  scheming  politicians,  have  thrown 
themselves  athwart  the  pathway  of  progress,  yelling  them- 
selves hoarse,  and  crying  "Stop  !  Stop  !  Stop  !  Death  and 
destruction  are  just  ahead!"  And  now  that  it  is  proposed 
to  extend  public  ownership,  to  include  all  the  industries  and 
provide  a  democratic  management,  and  just  distribution;  in 
other  words  to  establish  Socialism,  the  same  motley  crowd 
or  same  sort  of  crowd  that  call  themselves  "The  great  con- 
servative and  eminently  respectable  element  of  society,"  have 
planted  themselves  squarely  across  the  way  and  are  yelling 
frantically,  "Stop!  Stop!  Stop!  Socialism  would  destroy 
all  incentive!  Socialism  would  make  the  people  all  alike  just 
like  two  peas !  Socialism  would  destroy  our  liberties  !  Social- 
ism would  take  the  last  cow  you  have!  Under  Socialism 
who  would  do  the  dirty  work?  Socialism  would  destroy  the 
home!  Socialism  is  paternalism!  Socialism  is  robbery! 
Socialism  is  anarchy!  SOCIALISM  MUST  BE  CRUSHED !" 
These  may  stop  the  wheels  for  a  short  time.  They  cannot 


LAW,    ORDER    AND    ORGANIZATION  97 

turn  them  backward.  The  wheels  of  progress  never  turn 
backward.  There  may  be  some  delay,  but  finally,  the  way 
will  be  cleared,  the  march  will  be  resumed  and  no  power  will 
be  able  to  stop  its  progress.  Afterward,  the  world  will  smile 
at  the  childish  silliness  of  the  crowd  that  yelled. 

Yes,  Socialists  propose  to  complete  the  organization  of 
society  which  has  moved  slowly  forward  during  the  centuries 
past  but  which  is  now  moving  at  a  greatly  accelerated  velo- 
city. Socialists  claim  that  since  under  private  ownership 
there  is  so  little  system  and  that  little  is  often  little  more  than 
a  system  of  robbery ;  that  generally,  so  little  regard  is  paid  to 
justice  and  the  people's  interests;  that  there  is  so  little  order 
and  so  much  antagonism  that  it  is  simply  anarchy  and  con- 
fusion ;  that  therefore  private  ownership  is  a  failure  as  a  means 
of  providing  for  human  welfare,  in  short,  that  it  is  imprac- 
ticable, and  that  considering  especially  the  fact  that  all  the 
industries  are  publicly  used,  they  ought  to  be  publicly  owned 
and  managed. 

It  must  appear  readily  to  any  thinking  person,  that  the 
first  method  of  organization  is  likely  to  be  far  from  being  the 
best.  The  teachings  of  experience  will,  no  doubt,  introduce 
great  changes.  In  these  days  when  the  necessity  for  and  the 
general  plain  methods  of  organization  are  so  well  understood, 
it  seems  hardly  necessary  to  multiply  words  showing  the 
necessity  nor  to  devote  space  to  explaining  just  how  we  could 
organize  when  we  do  not  know  just  what  method  of  organi- 
zation will  be  adopted.  Yet  we  often  hear  the  question,  "How 
are  you  going  to  do  it?"  And  the  almost  as  frequent  asser- 
tion, "it  can't  be  done?"  These  often  come  from  persons  who 
call  themselves  organizers.  The  fact  is,  it  has  been  said  so 
often  that  Socialism  is  impracticable,  and  those  who  said  it 
have  looked  so  wise  and  spoken  with  such  a  degree  of  assur- 
ance, that  it  has  been  generally  accepted,  swallowed  whole 
without  stopping  to  consider  that  it  is  but  a  plain  simple 
problem  of  organization,  large  in  its  scope  it  is  true,  but 
simple  nevertheless,  not  complicated. 

When  the  first  great  chieftain  having  collected  together 
a  number  of  tribes  in  opposition  to  some  other  confederation, 
and  finding  that  the  large  number  of  men  obstructed  each 
other's  movements  proposed  to  organize  the  men  so  as  to 
secure  concerted  action  and  avoid  confusion,  no  doubt  many 
opposed  it.  "Never  saw  it  done  that  way.  It  can't  be  done." 
And  when  it  was  proposed  to  organize  civil  government  in 
order  to  collect  taxes  and  provide  for  the  settlement  of  disputes 
between  individuals,  no  doubt  there  was  opposition.  "Better 
let  each  one  furnish  for  the  war  just  what  he  pleases.  That 
is  the  way  we  always  have  done;  and  as  to  disputes,  better 


98  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

let  them  fight  it  out  the  old  way."  It  is  not  strange  if  men 
reasoned  that  way  then.  Organization  was  then  a  new  thing.  It 
is  not  strange  if  there  was,  at  first,  some  opposition  to  govern- 
ment ownership  of  railroads,  telegraphs  and  telephones,  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  too  big  an  undertaking.  But  now, 
since  the  government  ownership  proposition  has  been  applied 
and  found  a  success  by  all  the  great  nations  of  Europe  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  world;  since  municipal  ownership  has  been 
tested  as  it  has ;  since  civil  service  and  postal  organization 
have  been  tested ;  since  people  have  become  more  or  less 
familiar  with  the  facts  of  the  efficiency  of  organization  in  the 
movements  of  great  armies  and  navies,  and  last  but  not  least, 
since  they  have  witnessed  as  they  have  during  the  past  two 
decades  the  organization  and  rise  of  many  great  corporations 
and  have  seen  the  confederation  of  these  into  mammoth  trusts 
that  are  now  sweeping  the  masses  off  their  feet  and  con- 
tinually hurling  them  into  the  great  maelstrom  of  financial 
despair — since  in  all  these  the  people  have  become  so  well 
acquainted  with  the  possibilities  of  organization,  it  seems  a 
little  strange  that  they  should  hesitate,  because  of  its  magni- 
tude, at  the  Socialistic  proposition  to  organize  all  the  indus- 
tries. In  fact,  if  we  view  it  rightly,  its  very  magnitude  is  but 
a  plain  reason  for  organization.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
the  more  people  there  are  working  together  in  any 'of  life's 
activities,  the  greater  the  need  of  organization.  Then,  when 
we  consider  that  all  those  who  work  at  useful  employment 
are  in  a  sense  working  together  to  produce  the  necessaries  of 
life,  we  readily  see  the  necessity  of  organization.  When  I  say 
working  together  in  a  sense,  I  mean  all  engaged  in  the  same 
general  employment  each  producing  what  all  use,  but  in 
another  sense  they  are  not  working  together.  They  are  work- 
ing at  cross  purposes,  are  pulling  against  each  other,  and  this 
fact  argues  most  forcibly.  It  suggests  the  very  fundamental 
objects  of  organization,  the  avoiding  of  such  counter  pulling 
and  pushing  and  cross  action,  and  the  securing  of  parallel, 
concerted,  united  action.  " 

And  here  we  may  very  profitably  devote  a  little  space  to 
the  consideration  of  another  example  or  class  of  examples  of 
modern  organization.  I  refer  to  machinery.  And  what  is  a 
machine?  A  machine  is  a  mechanical  device  having  parts, 
organized  and  fitted  together  so  as  to  produce  concerted 
action.  A  great  machine  is  one  having  many  parts  all  acting 
harmoniously  together.  Now,  the  thought  I  wish  to  impress 
is  this :  If  the  ingenuity  of  man  is  sufficient  to  take  inanimate 
iron,  steel,  wood  and  other  materials  and  construct  great 
machines  that  almost  seem  to  have  life  and  accomplish  such 
great  results,  why  could  not  society,  consisting  of  animate,  liv- 


LAW,    ORDER   AND    ORGANIZATION  99 

ing,  moving,  intelligent  human  beings,  be  organized  so  as  to 
operate  as  a  great  machine  with  intelligence  to  guide  and  regu- 
late its  movements  at  every  point?  ''Oh,  but,"  says  some  wise 
acre,  "their  intelligence  would  be  a  great  obstacle!"  Grand 
thought  this;  but  would  it?  Has  it  proven  so  in  the  past? 
Have  army  and  naval  officers  found  the  intelligence  of  their 
men  a  great  obstacle  to  the  concerted  movements  of  armies 
and  navies  ?  And  does  history  confirm  this  assertion  by  show- 
ing that,  as  a  rule,  the  battle  was  against  the  more  intelligent 
and  in  favor  of  the  more  stupid?  Did  Dewey  find  intelligence 
an  obstacle  at  Manila?  To  ask  all  these  questions  is  but  to 
answer  them. 

Yes,  it  seems  a  little  strange  that  people  nowadays,  who 
are  so  well  acquainted  with  the  facts,  advantages,  benefits  and 
necessities  of  organization  should  hesitate  here,  but  a  little 
study  of  human  nature  reveals  the  fact  that  most  people 
reason  little  on  anything  outside  of  the  business  in  which 
they  are  engaged.  Often  with  facts  before  them  sufficient  to 
enable  them  to  form  a  rational  conclusion  on  a  subject,  they 
get  their  conclusions  ready  made  from  someone  who  seems 
to  know,  without  stopping  to  think  for  themselves  whether 
they  are  true  or  false ;  and  this  often  where  the  person  knows 
less  of  .the  subject  and  is  less  capable  of  judging  than  them- 
selves. We  are  developing  into  an  age  of  specialists.  The 
specialist  talks  very  glibly,  often  eloquently  of  things  in  his 
line.  Naturally  he  speaks  with  a  great  deal  of  self  assurance, 
and  often  he  makes  strong  impressions  on  those  who  are  not 
specialists  in  his  line,  who  swallow  his  assertions  whole  with- 
out investigation.  The  politician  is  a  specialist,  or  passes 
as  such.  Often  he  is  a  real  specialist  in  one  respect  and  a  pre- 
tended specialist  in  another,  that  is  to  say,  he  understands 
perfectly  how  to  deceive  people  and  get  their  votes,  but  knows 
next  to  nothing  of  the  political  principles  he  claims  to  stand 
for.  So,  when  he  is  asked  about  Socialism,  he  looks  very  wise, 
and  with  a  great  deal  of  self  assurance,  replies  with  a  great 
deal  of  firmness  and  decision,  that  Socialism  is  impracticable. 
He  says  Socialism  is  impracticable  because  it  is  too  big  a 
thing ;  because  it  is  unnatural ;  because  it  would  destroy  our 
liberties,  and  because  it  would  destroy  the  family,  etc.  He 
says  all  this  to  people  who  well  know  if  they  would  stop  to 
think,  that  its  very  magnitude  is  an  unanswerable  argument 
in  favor  of  it ;  who  would  know  if  they  stopped  to  think,  that 
instead  of  Socialism  being  unnatural  it  is  capitalism  that  is 
unnatural  in  that  it  mars  and  destroys  the  happiness  of  man 
by  its  continued  oppressions,  warrings,  jarrings  and  fightings, 
and  that  Socialism  is  natural ;  that  co-operation  is  the  natural 
condition  of  man's  activities,  and  that  from  fellowship  and 


ioo  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

brotherly  sympathy  and  helpfulness,  springs  the  highest  en- 
joyments of  earth,  in  fact,  we  would  perhaps  not  miss  it  far 
to  say  about  all  the  enjoyment  that  is  worthy  the  name. 

They  well  know,  if  they  would  stop  and  think,  that  under 
Socialism,  there  would  be  no  incentive  to  graft  in  the  civil 
service,  the  postal  service  and  other  departments  of  public 
activity.  They  know  that  there  is  graft  in  those  departments 
now ;  and,  if  they  stopped  to  think,  would  readily  see  that  the 
present  tendency  toward  corruption  must  make  it  much  more 
difficult  to  maintain  satisfactorily  the  organization  of  those 
departments.  They  also  know  full  well  that  in  spite  of  these 
corruptions,  these  departments  are  successful  to  such  a  degree 
that  no  sane  person  would  for  a  moment  harbor  the  thought 
of  dispensing  with  them ;  and  if  they  took  time  to  reason  a 
little  further  and  to  consider  the  difficulty  in  all  governmental 
organization  occasioned  by  the  tendency  to  corruption,  they 
would  conclude  that  it  is  not  extravagant  to  expect  that  with 
the  incentive  to  corruption  practically  all  eliminated,  as  it 
undoubtedly  would  be  under  Socialism,  it  would  be  a  simpler 
proposition  to  organize  and  manage  all  the  industries,  than  it 
has  been  to  do  the  same  with  those  now  under  governmental, 
state  and  municipal  supervision.  They  also  know,  if  they 
would  stop  and  think,  that  instead  of  Socialism  destroying  our 
liberties,  it  would  be  the  greatest  conservator  of  liberty ;  for, 
with  a  very  meagre  understanding  of  what  capitalism  is,  and 
of  what  Socialism  is,  they  would  know  that  Socialism  would 
secure  to  each  one  the  enjoyment  of  the  highest  form  of 
liberty  conceived  by  man,  namely,  liberty  to  do  right  and  pro- 
tection against  wrong;  that  Socialism  proposes  to  give  each 
one  an  equal  right  of  access  to  the  earth  and  its  resources,  not 
simply  an  abstract  right,  but  a  privilege  or  opportunity;  that 
it  would  secure  to  each  one  the  right  and  privilege  of  receiv- 
ing the  full  product  of  his  toil.  They  well  know,  if  they 
stopped  to  think  just  a  little,  that  capitalism  grants  only  ab- 
stract rights  to  most  people,  denying  them  free  access  to  he 
earth  and  its  resources  while  refusing  to  protect  them  in  their 
rights,  and  permitting  them  to  be  robbed  of  most  of  the  pro- 
duct of  their  toil ;  and  if  they  reasoned  a  little  further,  they 
would  see  that  many  of  the  so-called  rights  of  society  are 
simply  wrongs  in  the  exercise  of  which  a  special  class  is  pro- 
tected. 

And  then  these  people  hear  from  this  owl-faced  gentle- 
man the  very  startling  information  that  Socialism  would  break 
up  the  family,  would  destroy  the  home.  This  caps  the  climax. 

What  a  withering  charge  is  this !  Yet  those  who  hear  it, 
if  they  know  the  mere  rudiments  of  Socialism,  know  that  the 
proposition  of  Socialism  is  that  the  family  shall  remain  in- 


LAW,    ORDER   AND    ORGANIZATION 


101 


tact;  that  families  shall  retain  their  separate  existence 
would  know,  if  they  stopped  to  think,  that  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  family  should  cease,  and,  in  fact,  not  so  much  as 
there  is  now ;  for  it  would  be  far  easier  to  maintain  a  separate 
family  existence  under  the  conditions  which  Socialism 
promises ;  and  when  they  came  to  think  of  it  they  would  see 
that  the  tendency  of  the  postal  and  other,  civil  service  is  not 
to  cause  its  employees  to  abandon  the  family  existence;  that 
the  fact  is,  capitalism  has  furnished  a  most  crucial  test  show- 
ing the  stability  and  permanence  of  the  family,  especially  if 
equality  cuts  any  figure  in  the  matter,  as  the  opponents  of 
Socialism  claim;  for  in  the  tenement  houses  are  many  families 
together,  each  subsisting  on  an  equally  pitiful  wage,  and 
separated  from  each  other  only  by  a  chalk  line ;  that  notwith- 
standing this  the  family  still  remains,  and  that  morally  speak- 
ing, even  families  under  such  environment,  will  compare  quite 
favorably  with  those  of  the  very  wealthy  so  many  of  whom 
turn  night  into  day  by  their  dissipations. 

Yes,  there  are  many  people  who  know  these  things  or 
would  know  them  if  only  they  stopped  to  think.  But  therein 
lies  the  trouble.  The  American  people  are  not  slow  in  acquir- 
ing knowledge.  Their  chief  failure  lies  in  not  digesting  and 
appropriating  the  knowledge  they  have.  As  a  rule  they  fol- 
low the  line  of  least  resistance,  get  their  thoughts  ready  made 
and  leave  the  real  thinking  to  others,  and  it  is  not  at  all 
strange  if,  in  these  days  of  graft,  the  thoughts  are  often 
moulded  in  the  interest  of  the  thinker  and  against  the  interest 
of  the  receiver.  Some  may  be  ready  to  say  that  they  got  the 
thoughts  from  some  other  than  a  politician.  But  if  they  did, 
the  chances  are,  nine  out  of  ten,  that  they  got  them  from 
another,  who  got  them  from  another,  etc.,  who  got  them  from 
a  politician.  Such  thoughts  are  usually  passed  very  rapidly 
along  down  the  line.  There  is  also  a  disposition  to  follow  the 
line  of  least  resistance  in  holding  to  the  old  ruts,  and  the  poli- 
tician is  careful  to  encourage  it.  He  says  virtually,  "Be  sure 
you  keep  in  the  old  ruts ;  look  out  for  the  Socialist ;  he  is 
liable  to  break  the  ruts  and  lead  you  out,  and  if  you  get  out 
you  will  be  lost,  for  you  will  not  know  where  you  are." 

So  then,  when  the  Socialist  agitator  comes  around  and 
sends  a  few  Socialist  ideas  clattering  against  his  cranium,  the 
average  man  is  apt  to  brace  himself  and  say,  "I'm  from  Mis- 
souri. You'll  have  to  show  me." 


102  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  SOCIALIST  PROGRAM. 

Very  well,  then,  let  us  begin  at  once  the  showing  process, 
in  an  attempt  to  outline  a  general,  workable,  practicable  pro- 
gram of  Socialism.  To  do  so  we  must  suppose  that  the 
Socialists  have  come  into  the  possession  of  the  government, 
both  national  and  state;  must  not  forget  our  definition  of 
Socialism,  public  ownership,  public  management,  just  distri- 
bution of  income  and  private  ownership  of  distributed  pro- 
duct, not  omitting  the  central  thought,  the  pith  of  it  all,  the 
substitution  of  co-operation  for  competition ;  and  we  must  ad- 
here closely  to  our  three  cardinal  moral  principles.  Following 
these  what  we  want  to  do  is  to  organize  all  our  industrial 
activities  under  one  general  national  interest,  with  such  sepa- 
rate state  and  local  interests  as  may  be  deemed  convenient. 

Let  us  look  forward  in  our  imagination  to  the  time  when 
the  educational  work  that  is  now  going  on  has  been  com- 
pleted. The  people  have  learned  theoretically  the  principles 
of  Socialism.  They  have  adopted  them  by  electing  Socialists 
to  office  in  all  departments  of  government,  both  in  the  nation 
and  in  the  states,  or  most  of  them.  If  any  held  back  the 
others  could  go  on  without  them.  The  holding  back  would 
not  last  long.  All  things  are  ready  and  the  people  are  willing 
and  anxious  to  usher  in  the  co-operative  commonwealth.  We 
are  now  ready  to  doff  the  tattered  old  garment  of  capitalism, 
that  is  covered  with  fragmentary  pictures  and  reminiscences 
of  past  wars  and  carnage  and  crime  and  cruelty,  and  don  the 
new  and  spotlessly  white  garment,  having  emblazoned  upon 
it  in  shining  letters  the  word  brotherhood.  We  are  now  ready 
to  organize.  How  shall  we  begin?  Ask  a  man  of  average 
intelligence  if  he  knows  anything  about  the  organization  of 
an  army  or  navy,  a  civil  government,  the  school  business  or 
the  postal  business,  and  he  will  probably  say,  "Yes,  I  know 
something  of  those  things ;  I  know  that  they  are  organized." 

Do  you  think  you  could  organize  an  army? 

After  a  little  reflection  he  says,  "Yes.  I  might  not  do  a 
very  good  job  at  it.  There  would  perhaps  be  a  great  room 
for  improvement;  but  I  think  I  could  organize  it." 

Could  you  organize  a  navy,  the  civil  service,  the  postal 
business,  the  school  business  or  the  railroad  business? 

"Yes." 

How  would  you  proceed  to  organize  any  branch  of 
activity  ? 

."I  would  look  out  and  appoint  over  each  department  of 
the  institution  to  be  organized  the  man  or  men  who  appear 


THE    SOCIALIST    PROGRAM  103 

to  be  the  wisest -concerning  the  work  of  that  department  and 
let  him  or  them  organize  it." 

This  is  the  general  plan  of  organization  that  has  been 
practiced  for  more  than  three  thousand  years,  since  the  days 
when  the  tribes  of  Israel  set  before  their  great  leader  their 
wise  men  whom  he  made  to  be  "captains  over  thousands  and 
captains  over  fifties,  and  captains  over  tens,  and  officers  among 
the  people."  The  exact  methods  of  organization  are  almost  as 
various  as  the  institutions  to  be  organized.  There  is  a  vari- 
ation in  details.  Sometimes  the  organizer  is  self-appointed ; 
sometimes  he  is  appointed  by  a  higher  power;  sometimes 
elected  by  the  people,  and  sometimes  by  the  representatives 
of  the  people,  but  in  one  essential  respect  there  has  not  been 
much  change  in  three  thousand  years.  Almost  invariably, 
organization  begins  at  the  top  and  proceeds  downward.  This 
method  is  the  best  that  can  be  done  when  the  masses  are  igno- 
rant of  the  subject  matter  of  organization.  Even  democ- 
racies are  almost  invariably  content  to  follow  this  old  time 
method.  The  people  are  expected  to  study  men  principally, 
and  principles  and  methods  a  very  little,  and  they  do  not 
usually  exceed  these  expectations.  No  wonder  there  has  been 
corruption.  But,  like  many  other  evils  that  have  afflicted 
society  in  the  past  it  was  unavoidable  under  all  the  circum- 
stances. It  gathered  as  a  clog  on  the  wheels  of  progress ;  but 
the  swamp  must  be  crossed,  and  the  best  that  could  be  done 
was  to  wade  steadily  along,  paying  little  attention  to  the 
milder  accretions,  and  raking  off  (with  a  "muck  rake"  or 
other  primitive  tool)  the  grosser  forms  of  corruption. 

With  all  its  drawbacks  this  method  of  organization  has 
accomplished  much  good  in  the  past,  and  I  see  no  reason  why 
it  could  not  be  continued  under  Socialism  and  result  in  a  great 
improvement  over  our  present  system.  The  powers  and  func- 
tions of  our  federal,  state  and  municipal  governments  could 
all  be  enlarged  and  each  of  the  industries  could  be  assigned  to 
such  departments  of  these  as  seemed  best  fitted  to  handle  it, 
until  all  were  included.  This  would  be  Socialism,  at  least  in 
form.  It  would  be  a  defective  Socialism  if  it  failed  to  carry- 
out  the  expressed  will  of  the  people,  to  provide  a  just  distri- 
bution, or  to  secure  to  each  the  private  ownership  and  enjoy- 
ment of  his  just  share  of  the  social  product.  With  these,  it 
might  still  be  cumbersome,  but  it  would  nevertheless  be  per- 
fect in  the  sense  that  it  would  be  all  Socialism  and  no  capi- 
talism. It  would  not  be  a  perfect  machine  because  it  would 
be  fashioned  after  the  imperfect  machine  of  capitalism.  Yet 
it  would  undoubtedly  run  far  more  smoothly,  because  it  would 
be  almost  free  from  all  incentive  to  and  opportunity  for  cor- 
ruption. Under  Socialism  nearly  all  financial  dealings  be- 


104  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

tween  private  persons  would  cease  and  be  nearly  altogether 
with  the  public.  All  capital  would  be  owned  by  the  public. 
There  would  be  no  reason  for  great  individual  accumulations 
of  the  products  of  labor  and  such  would  be  effectually  dis- 
couraged or  forbidden  to  extend  beyond  certain  limits.  More- 
over the  public  would  furnish  storehouses  for  all  such  incre- 
ment, the  private  ownership  of  each  being  indicated  by  certi- 
ficate and  book  account. 

Considering  then  all  these  points,  we  readily  see  that 
under  Socialism  there  would  be  little  incentive  and  little 
opportunity  for  corruption  in  government.  Practically,  there 
would  be  none  except  what  might  possibly  result  from  a 
scramble  for  the  best  places,  and  even  in  this  there  could 
hardly  be  any  opportunity  for  bribery  except  by  the  mutual 
helpfulness  of  a  combination  of  two  or  more  persons  in  secur- 
ing the  best  positions.  The  tendency  in  this  direction  would, 
however,  be  very  slight;  for  the  main  temptation,  the  prospect 
of  a  considerable  financial  reward  would  be  removed.  No 
one  could  obtain  any  but  a  petty  advantage,  and  it  is  reason- 
able to  expect  that  under  such  an  environment,  the  public 
sentiment  would  become  so  strong  against  petty  striving,  that 
few  would  risk  its  censure  and  yield  to  so  small  temptation. 
It  seems  to  me  that  any  thinking  person  having  but  a  bare 
definition  of  Socialism  should  be  able  to  see,  with  a  little  care- 
ful reflection,  that  the  proposition  of  Socialism  is  but  a  plain, 
simple  matter  of  organization,  and  not  only  simple,  but 
simplified  by  the  elimination  of  the  worst  difficulty  that  besets 
our  present  system,  and  that  with  our  old  time  mehods  of 
organization  it  would  be  reasonable  to  expect  it  to  become 
such  a  success  that,  compared  with  our  present  society,  it 
would  be  as  moonlight  to  starlight.  And  yet  Socialism  reveals 
a  far  better  method;  a  method  in  which  the  new  Socialist 
machine  stands  forth  as  a  new  model,  having  abandoned  many 
of  the  useless  and  cumbersome  parts  of  the  old  capitalistic 
machine  and  been  fashioned  to  suit  the  proposed  new  environ- 
ment ;  and  which  being  applied,  may  be  expected  to  produce 
so  much  greater  results  as  to  entitle  it  to  be  called  the  sun- 
light method. 

And  what  will  be  the  new  environment?  But  first  what 
of  the  present? 

Our  present  society  is  built  up  entirely  on  selfishness. 
The  chief  concern  of  each  one  is  to  enhance  his  own  individual 
interests.  As  a  rule  he  takes  readily  to  any  proposition  that 
promises  to  enhance  the  value  of  his  holdings.  These^  are 
usually  confined  to  the  particular  locality  in  which  he  lives. 
The  people  of  a  particular  locality  in  a.  county  work  together 
to  secure  some  county  enterprise  or  institution,  as,  for  in- 


THE    SOCIALIST    PROGRAM  105 

stance,  a  county  seat  that  will  be  a  benefit  to  the  whole  neigh- 
borhood. In  such  case,  the  chief  motive  of  each  individual  is 
that  he  may  advance  his  own  individual  interest.  In  the  same 
manner  the  people  of  one  part  of  a  state  will  unite  to  promote 
the  financial  interests  of  themselves.  Likewise,  also,  the 
people  of  a  state  will  all  work  together  to  draw  their  way 
some  great  national  enterprise  or  institution,  or  seek  the  pro- 
motion of  whatever  will  benefit  the  people  of  that  state ;  and  in 
all  these  cases,  as  a  rule,  the  motive  that  is  uppermost  in  each 
individual  is  his  own  self  interest,  the  hope  that  his  property 
may  be  increased  in  value,  or  that  his  home  may  become  a 
pleasanter  place  in  which  to  live. 

But  the  selfish  motive  is  not  the  only  motive.  Nearly 
all  people  have  more  or  less  of  what  is  called  public  spirit.  In 
spite  of  all  the  cultivation  of  selfishness  which  our  present 
society  promotes,  this  public  spirit  still  lives  and  still  con- 
tinues to  crop  out  in  some  form  or  other.  True,  some  people 
seem  to  be  almost  entirely  without  it,  and  the  proportional  num- 
ber of  such  people  seems  to  be  increasing,  but  on  the  other 
hand  there  are  persons  so  public  spirited,  that  they  are  ready 
at  any  time  to  sacrifice  their  own  private  interests  for  the 
public  good.  But  even  in  such  case,  the  public  spirit  usually 
finds  its  strongest  expression  in  seeking  the  promotion  of  that 
which  is  nearest  home.  Many  a  man  through  public  spirit 
works  to  promote  the  interests  of  his  own  neighborhood, 
town  or  county,  who  takes  little  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
state,  and  some  take  a  deep  interest  in  what  concerns  their 
own  state,  who  care  little  for  national  affairs. 

And  so  we  find  society  as  at  present  constituted,  divided 
and  subdivided  into'  petty  conflicting  local  interests.  The 
people  of  one  part  of  a  state  being  cut  off  by  a  mountain  range 
or  in  some  way  having  interests  which  vary  widely  from  the 
interests  of  the  majority,  are  often  neglected  and  caused  to 
suffer  greatly  for  want  of  the  legislation  they  need,  because 
it  does  not  concern  the  interests  of  the  majority.  So  also  a 
state  or  a  number  of  states  in  one  quarter  may'suffer  for  want 
of  national  legislation.  Then  the  various  gradations  in  wealth 
divide  the  people  into  a  variety  of  classes  with  diverse  con- 
flicting class  interests.  Also  diversity  of  occupation  causes  a 
still  further  subdivision.  Many  laws  are  made  in  the  interest 
of  the  very  rich  that  are  of  little  benefit  to  the  middle  class 
and  very  poor.  Some  laws  benefit  the  great  millionaires  and 
injure  the  smaller  ones,  and  vice  versa.  Also,  some  laws 
benefit  the  middle  class  which  are  against  the  proletarian,  and 
vice  versa.  Lastly,  each  occupation  calls  for  laws  that  are  of 
little  or  no  interest,  or  are  against  the  interests  of  some  or  all 
the  other  classes.  What  I  am  trying  to  get  before  the  reader 


106  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

is  the  fact  that,  under  our  present  system,  besides  the  general 
competitive  squabble  which  is  too  much  of  a  labyrinth,  too 
anarchical  to  be  described,  there  is  a  continual  clashing  of 
class  interests  and  dissatisfaction  with  the  laws,  by  reason  of 
the  diversity  of  the  local,  financial  and 'occupational  interests 
already  mentioned.  There  is  a  continual  complaining.  In  all 
my  life  I  do  not  remember  hearing  but  one  man  say  that  he 
was  satisfied  with  the  laws  as  they  are,  and  he  was  a  poor 
foreigner  who  did  not  know  enough  of  our  laws  to  be  dis- 
satisfied with  them. 

And  now,  with  this  picture  before  the  mind  let  us  turn 
and  inquire  how  it  would  be  under  Socialism. 

To  begin  with,  Socialism  proposes  the  public  ownership 
of  all  productive  industries,  all  that  portion  of  wealth  called 
capital.  This  would  mean  that  if  the  United  States  should 
adopt  Socialism,  when  the  transition  is  made,  by  whatever 
means  it  may  be  accomplished,  each  owner  of  capital  will 
yield  his  ownership  to  the  government  and  receive  instead, 
along  with  all  other  citizens,  an  equal  interest  in  all  the  capital 
of  the  whole  with  an  equal  right  to  apply  his  labor  along  with 
the  other  partners  and  receive  a  share  proportional  to  his 
efforts.  This  would  do  away  with  all  private  competition  in 
buying  and  selling.  There  could  no  longer  be  a  clashing 
along  the  lines  drawn  on  various  gradations  of  wealth  owner- 
ship. All  local  and  sectional  diversity  of  interests  would  be 
completely  wiped  out.  Practically,  the  people  living  in  Maine 
would  have  the  same  interest  in  the  material  development  of 
California  as  the  Californians  themselves ;  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Puget  Sound  country  would  be  benefited  about  as  much 
by  the  opening  up  of  new  industries  in  the  southern  states  as 
the  southerners  themselves,  and  the  people  of  each  industry 
would  be  as  much  interested  in  seeing  all  other  industries 
properly  developed  as  in  their  own.  The  fact  is  that  under 
Socialism  all  would  be  equally  interested  in  such  a  develop- 
ment of  the  various  localities,  and  in  such  a  proportional  de- 
velopment of  'the  various  industries,  as  would  supply  the 
wants  of  all  with  the  least  effort  and  inconvenience.  There 
could  be  no  class  interests,  strictly  speaking.  The  only  sem- 
blance of  class  lines  would  be  those  dividing  between  the 
various  occupations.  There  might  be  a  little  crowding  for 
the  best  places,  especially  if  they  paid  better  wages,  but  this 
tendency  would  surely  not  be  very  strong  since  there  would 
be  no  opportunity  to  amass  an  individual  fortune.  If  there 
should  prove  to  be  such  a  tendency,  it  could  be  remedied  for 
the  most  part  by  applying  Mr.  Bellamy's  method  of  reduc- 
ing the  hours  of  those  having  the  most  unpleasant  work. 

Under  our  present  system,  we  are  ever  jealous  of  any- 


THE    SOCIALIST    PROGRAM  107 

thing  like  an  infringement  of  our  state  rights  and  are  up  in 
arms  against  anything  that  smacks  of  usurpation.  We  feel 
that  we  are  the  most  interested  in  our  own  local  affairs,  and 
therefore  that  our  interests  are  safest  in  our  own  hands.  But 
under  Socialism  all  would  be  changed.  I  see  no  reason  why 
state  governments  should  be  continued  at  all,  though  I  think 
probably  it  would  be  found  best  to  divide  the  country  into  a 
number  of  sections  for  convenience  of  administration. 

Private  ownership  of  wealth  having  principally  ceased, 
private  financial  dealings  having  been  dispensed  with,  and  the 
causes  of  crime  having  for  the  most  part  been  removed,  most 
of  our  present  laws  and  our  present  governmental  machinery 
would  become  obsolete.  As  there  would  be  no  longer  any 
reason  for  sectional  and  local  representation,  it  would  be  bet- 
ter to  abandon  our  present  method 'of  representation  by  states 
and  districts,  and  adopt  instead  a  method  which  has  generally 
been  advocated  by  Socialist  writers,  and  which  follows  the 
only  line  of  classification  left  in  society,  namely,  that  of  occu- 
pation. 

The  following  quotation  is  from  Lawrence  Gronlund's 
Co-operative  Commonwealth,  pp.  191-6. 

"The  referendum  is  expedient  because  the  stability  and  goodness  of 
all  laws  and  institutions  depend  on  their  suitableness.  I  have  compared 
political  institutions  to  coats  that  may  or  may'  not  fit  the  backs.  The  refer- 
endum will  insure  that  the  coat  will  fit  the  back;  in  other  words  that 
the  measures  adopted  are  commensurate  with  the  development  of  the 
people.  If  the  coat  does  not  fit,  if  a  given  measure  does  not  suit  them, 
they  will  simply  reject  it. 

"It  is  expedient  because  it,  and  it  alone,  will  arouse  and  keep  alive 
in  the  people  the  interest  in  public  affairs.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  the 
voters  in  the  United  States,  and  in  all  countries,  are  absolutely  indifferent 
to — that  many  look  with  a  sort  of  contempt  on — the  electoral  franchise; 
and  the  humbug  of  representation  to  which  we  adverted  in  the  preceding 
chapter  is  a  sufficiently  good  reason.  Voters  will  naturally  remain 
indifferent  as  long  as  a  political  campaign  means  but  a  strife  for  candi- 
dates. Whenever  they  do  vote  they  will  continue  to  do  so  from  the 
same  reasons  which  solely  influence  them  now;  to  wit,  habit,  or  the 
desire  to  advance  a  friend  or  a  'hero,'  or  the  chance  of  getting  a  drink. 

"But  when  the  voters  have  measures  before  them — not  merely 
general,  and  therefore  vague,  constitutional  provisions,  but  direct  special 
measures — to  discuss,  and  then  to  ratify  or  reject,  it  may  be  fairly  expected 
that  they  will  take  a  considerable  and  increasing  interest  in  public  affairs. 
Then,  also,  they  will  very  likely  come  more  and  more  to  appreciate  the 
fact  that  suffrage  is  not  a  right  at  all — if  it  were,  votes  _would  indeed  be 
'things  to  be  sold  or  given  away  at  pleasure — but  a  public  trust. 

"The  referendum  is  expedient,  because  bills  will  then  be  intelligently 
discussed  before  they  become  laws.  We  shall  then  no  more  witness  the 
indecency  that  important  laws,  the  provisions  of  which  even  often  are 
unknown  to  the  legislators,  are  enacted  in  the  hurry  of  the  last  night  of 
a  session,  under  the  spur  of  the  party  whip.  Then  we  shall  no  longer  see 
huge  volumes  of  trash  issuing  yearly  from  legislative  'halls,  but  shall  have 
few,  and  none  but  necessary  laws. 


io8  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

"  'But  this  is  all  nonsense  to  propose  to  get  along  without  representa- 
tives. The  people  of  a  large  country  like  that  of  the  United  States  cannot 
possibly  pass  upon  all  laws.' 

''Yes,  we  know  that  once  "upon  a  time  somebody  made  a  remark  of 
that  kind,  and  that  it  has  been  echoed  and  reechoed  ever  since.  .  Humanity 
does  really  resemble  a  flock  of  she^p,  which  are  known  to  be  so  con- 
scientious that,  if  you  hold  a  stick  before  the  wether  so  that  he  is  forced 
to  vault  in  his  passage,  the  whole  flock  will  do  the  like  when  the  stick 
is  withdrawn. 

"Why  cannot  the  people  even  of  so  populous  and  extensive  a 
country  as  the  union,  vote  upon  all  laws.  Dp  not,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  people  vote  to  reject  or  accept  the  constitutions  of  their  several  States? 
Do  they  not  practically  vote  for  the  president?  What  reason  in  the 
world  is  there  why  they  cannot  just  as  well  vote  upon  a  law  as  upon  a 
constitution  or  upon  men? 

"And  what  reason  is  there  for  the  people  to  have  representatives  at 
all?  True,  they  needs  must  have  men  to  direct  affairs  and  to  *lo  certain 
work  tor  them.  These  men  are  their  agents  for  certain  purposes,  but  in 
no  sense  their  representatives.  It  is  the  fictitious  'representative'  character 
that  is  father  of  all  parliamentary  nonsense,  blundering  work,  and  cor- 
ruption of  practical  politics. 

"Urjder  the  Socialist  regime  the  administrators  will  form  a  working 
body  and  not  a  talking  body.  The  people  in  their  organic  capacity  will 
watch,  stimulate  and  control  them,  but  not  meddle  with  details.  Their 
agents  will  have  been  put  into  the  positions  they  occupy,  because  they 
know  better  than  anybody  else  how  to  contrive  the  means  and  execute 
the  measures  demanded.  They  will  administer  the  nation's  affairs  as  a 
pilot  directs  and  handles  a  ship,  but  the  direction  of  the  ship  of  state 
will  be  indicated  by  public  opinion. 

"But  the  pertinacious  curiosity  of  critics  will,  undoubtedly,  not  be 
satisfied  before  they  have  a  sketch  of  such  a  Socialist  administration 
before  them  for  examination. 

"Well,  anybody  can  construct  such  an  administration  in  his  imagina- 
tion as  well  as  we  can,  if  he  only  will  keep  steadily  before  him  these 
three  requirements :  first,  that  all  appointments  be  made  from  below ; 
next,  that  the  directors  stay  in  office  as  long  as  they  give  satisfaction  and 
not  one  moment  beyond;  and,  lastly,  that  all  laws  and  regulations  of  a 
general  nature  must  be  first  ratified  by  those  immediately  interested.  We 
have  no  better  means  of  guessing  how  those  who  come  after  us  will  con- 
struct their  administrative  machinery  in  detail  than  anybody  else;  and 
modern  Socialists  are  not  fond  of  laying  down  rules  for  the  guidance  of 
coming  generations. 

"In  order,  however,  to  show  that  an  administration  without  presi- 
dent, without  national  or  debating  societies  of  any  kind,  is  really  possible, 
I  shall  draw  such  a  one  in  outline;  but  please  bear  in  mind  that  Socialism 
must  not  be  made  responsible  for  this  fancy  sketch  of  mine. 


"Suppose,  then,  every  distinct  branch  of  industry,  of  agriculture  and 
also  teachers,  physicians,  etc.,  to  form,  each  trade  and  profession  by 
itself,  a  distinct  body,  a  trades  union  (I  simply  use  the  term  because  it  is 
convenient,)  a  guild,  a  corporation  managing  its  internal  affairs  itself, 
but  subject  to  collective  control. 

"Suppose,  further,  that  the  'heelers'  among  the  operatives  in  a  shoe 
factory  in  a  given  place  come  together  and  elect  their  foreman,  and  that 
the  'tappers,'  the  'solers,'  the  'finishers'  and  whatever  else  the  various 
operators  may  be  called,  do  likewise.  Suppose  that  these  foremen  assemble 
and  elect  a  superintendent  of  the  factory,  and  that  the  superintendents  of 


THE    SOCIALIST    PROGRAM  109 

all  the  shoe  factories  in  that  district,  in  their  .turn  elect  a — let  us  call  him — 
district  superintendent.  Again,  we  shall  suppose  these  district  superin- 
tendents of  the  whole  boot  and  shoe  industry  to  assemble  themselves 
somewhere  from  all  parts  of  the  country  and  elect  a  bureau  chief,  and  he 
with  other  bureau  chiefs  of  related  industries — say,  the  tanning  indus- 
try— to  elect  a  chief  of  department. 

"In  the  same  manner  I  shall  suppose  that  we  have  got  a  chief  for 
every  group  of  related  mechanical,  and  agricultural  and  mining  pursuits, 
a  chief  for  the  teachers,  another  for  the  physicians,  another  for  the  judges; 
further,  one  or  more  chiefs  for  transportation,  one  or  more  chiefs  for 
commerce;  in  fact,  suppose  that  there  is  not  a  social  function  whatever 
that  does  not  converge  in  some  way  in  such  chief  of  department. 

"However,  we  do  not  want  too  many  of  these  chiefs,  for  we  mean 
to  make  a  working  body,  not.  a  talking  body,  out  of  them.  I  mean  that 
these  chiefs  of  departments  shall  form  the  national  board  of  adminis- 
trations, whose  function  it  shall  be  to  supervise  the  whole  social  activity 
of  the  country.  Each  chief  will  supervise  the  internal  affairs  of  his  own 
department,  and  the  whole  board  control  all  those  matters  in  which  the 
general  public  is  interested. 

"But  just  as  all  inferior  officers,  this  national  board  will  be 
nothing  but  a  body  of  administrators,  they  will  be  merely  trusted  agents 
to  do  a  particular  work;  they  will  be  in  no  sense,  'governors'  or  'rulers,' 
or,  if  anybody  should  choose  to  call  their  supervision  and  control  'govern- 
ment/ it  will,  at  all  events,  rather  be  a  government  over  things  than 
over  men.  For  they  will  decree  no  laws. 

"If  a  general  law  is  thought  to  be  expedient,  one  that  will  affect 
the  people  at  large  or  those  of  any  one  department,  then  we  suppose  this 
national  board  simply  to  agree  on  the  general  features  of  the  measure,  and 
thereupon  intrust  the  drafting  of  the  proper  bill  either  to  the  chief  whose 
department  it  principally  concerns,  or  what  might  be  the  usual  course,  to 
the  chief  of  the  judges.  When  this  draft  has  been  discussed  and  adopted, 
the  board  will  submit  it  to  the  people  either  of  the  whole  country  or  of 
the  department,  as  may  be,  for  their  ratification.  The  national  board  is 
thus  no  law  maker,  therefore  no  'government'  but  an  executive  body 
strictly." 

Continuing  the  same  subject,  we  quote  from  "Modern 
Socialism,"  by  Chas.  H.  Vail,  pp.  75-6. 

"Each  directing  officer  would  be  held  responsible,  not  only  for  his 
own  work,  but  for  that  of  his  subordinates.  While  appointments  would 
be  made  from  below,  dismissals  would  come  from  above.  'Subordinates 
elect,  superiors  dismiss.' 

"This  would  obviate  divided  responsibility  'by  making  the  officers 
responsible  to  some  one  person.  In  case  any  officer  abused  his  power, 
he  himself  would  be  dismissed  by  his  superior.  Should  he  be  found  ineffi- 
cient, a  foreman  could  be  removed  by  the  superintendent,  a  superintendent 
by  the  bureau  chief,  or  a  bureau  chief  by  the  department  chief.  The 
latter  official,  however,  would  be  made  responsible  to  the  whole  body 
of  his  subordinates.  If  any  department  or  member  thereof  became  dis- 
satisfied with  the  chief,  the  imperative  mandate  could  be  called  irrto 
service  in  the  same  manner  as  the  initiative.  That  is,  any  person  could 
draw  up  a  petition  demanding  the  removal  of  the  officer,  and  upon  receiv- 
ing the  signatures  of  the  majority  of  the  department,  his  office  would  be 
declared  vacant  by  the  proper  officers  and  an  election  called  to  fill  the 
vacancy.  The  initiative  and  imperative  mandate  could,  if  thought  advis- 
able, be  used  in  case  of  every  officer.  Thus  the  foreman  of  any  shop  or 
superintendent  of  any  factory  could  be  recalled  by  the  very  persons  who 
placed  him  in  power,  the  majority  always  ruling.  The  officer  thus  deposed 


no  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

would  take  his  place  among  the  rank  and  file  and  there  remain,  unless 
elevated  by  a  subsequent  election. 

"Is  not  this  democracy,  an  administration  by  the  people  ?  Every  man 
would  have  a  part  in  the  administration  of  affairs.  That  such  a  system 
would  work  well  in  practice  we  may  see  by  studying  labor  organizations 
and  trade  unions.  These  unions  furnish  the  skeletons  of  the  future  com- 
monwealth. 

"That  Socialism  would  greatly  improve  government  is  evident, 
because  it  would  make  administration  of  vital  concern  to  all  the  people. 

"It  would  raise  into  prominence  a  nobler  class  of  men,  and  draw 
into  the  public  service  the  talent  of  the  country.  As  the  prosperity  of 
all  would  depend  upon  efficient  management,  the  full  moral  strength  and 
mental  acumen  of  the  nation  would  be  at  the  public  service.." 

Here  we  have  a  practicable  program,  perfectly  adapted 
to  the  new  conditions,  with  nearly  all  our  present  unwieldy 
governmental  machinery  left  out.  It  would  be  worse  than 
useless.  There  would  be  little  to  legislate  about.  Nearly 
all  our  present  legislation  relates  to  private  ownership  of 
property  and  to  crimes  resulting  directly  or  indirectly  from  it. 
The  new  order  being  once  established,  legislation  will  be  con- 
fined to  general  methods  of  organization.  The  details  would 
be  left  to  the  administration  just  as  in  our  postal  department 
or  in  the  civil  service. 

There  is  one  particular  circumstance,  the  influence  of 
which  in  the  promotion  of  the  success  of  Socialism  by  the 
methods  of  administration  just  outlined,  can  hardly  be  over- 
estimated ;  and  that  is  the  fact  that  under  the  new  order  each 
one  will  be  thoroughly  instructed  and  trained  for  the  special 
work  he  expects  to  perform,  and  will  therefore  be  able  to  vote 
intelligently  for  'both  men  and  measures  connected  with  the 
work  of  his  department. 

I  prefer  to  use  the  term  government  as  applied  to  the 
Socialistic  state,  for  two  reasons:  First  because  it  is  more 
readily  understood  by  the  reader;  and  secondly,  because  I 
believe  in  yielding  obedience  to  properly  constituted 
authority ;  and  I  know  of  no  word  that  better  signifies  the 
strength  and  authority  of  the  collective  will  expressed  by  the 
referendum  ballot  and  executed  by  the  people's  chosen  agents. 
But  government  under  Socialism  will  have  a  very  different 
meaning  from  what  it  has  now.  Then,  it  will  mean  the  whole 
people :  now,  it  means  an  organized  body  over  and  above 
the  people,  supposed  to  be  chosen  by,  and  acting  for  them, 
but  in  reality,  for  the  most  part,  chosen  by  the  plutocracy 
and  acting  as  their  exclusive  agents.  Government  under 
Socialism  will  be  an  actual,  and  not  merely  a  theoretical  self 
government. 

It  will  be  the  duty  of  the  government  to  provide  for  all 
the  wants  of  all  the  people,  each  receiving  in  proportion  to 
his  effort.  This  will  require  systematic  effort -in  production^ 


THE    SOCIALIST    PROGRAM  in 

and  let  us  not  forget  that  production  in  the  economic  sense, 
includes  every  step  that  is  necessary  to  produce  the  raw  ma- 
terial, transform  it  into  the  finished  product,  and  transport  it 
to  the  consumer  in  the  form  in' which  it  is  to  be  used.  This 
will  require  much  cool,  careful  calculating.  Here  the  statis- 
tician's position  will  loom  up  as  the  most  important  office  in 
the  nation. 

The  importance  of  economy  in  determining  the  amount 
and  place  of  producing  the  raw  material  and  in  questions  per- 
taining to  manufacture  and  transportation,  would  call  for 
an  able  statistician,  or  possibly  a  board  of  statisticians  with 
an  able  corps  of  assistants,  each  understanding  thoroughly 
the  work  of  his  own  department.  This  work  would  be  the 
most  arduous  and  uncertain  at  first  and  during  the  experi- 
mental stage.  Of  course,  sound  policy  would  require  that  at 
all  times,  due  care  be  taken  to  provide  against  a  shortage  of 
the  necessaries  of  life.  This  would  be  a  matter  of  the  highest 
importance  at  the  beginning;  and  to  make  sure  on  this  point, 
it  would  be  good  policy  to  plan  especially  for  the  production 
at  first  of  a  superabundance  of  such  staple  food  products  as 
could  be  kept  through  several  years  without  waste.  After  a 
few  years  experience  the  statisticians  could  determine  more 
accurately  how  much  of  each  article  would  be  wanted,  and 
where  it  could  be  most  economically  produced.  And  we 
must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  some  articles  must  be  sup- 
plied from  abroad,  while  others  that  could  be  provided  for  at 
home  *may  be  more  easily  obtained  by  producing  still  other 
articles  and  exchanging  with  foreign  countries.  In  such 
cases  it  would  devolve  upon  our  government  to  enter  into 
reciprocal  agreements  with  other  countries,  by  which  such 
articles  could  be  obtained.  Thus  in  the  very  introduction  of 
Socialism  we  would  substitute  science  for  chance,  co-opera- 
tive, concerted  action  for  competitive,  disconcerted  action ; 
order  for  disorder;  organization  for  disorganization,  and 
economy  for  waste. 

Time  and  space  forbid  that  we  should  undertake  to 
enumerate  the  points  of  waste  in  our  present  system  that 
would  be  saved  under  Socialism ;  but  we  may  begin  to  com- 
prehend something  of  their  aggregate  magnitude,  if  we  con- 
sider how  small  a  proportion  of  the  men  who  are  fit  for  ser- 
vice, are  now  employed  at  what  under  Socialism  would  be 
necessary  work.  It  "is  said  they  are  only  about  one-third. 
When  we  consider  the  great  number  of  idle  rich  and  idle 
poor,  the  number  employed  in  advertising,  the  great  number 
of  merchants  and  shopmen  great  aad  small  with  their  armies 
of  agents,  solicitors,  salesmen,  clerks  and  deliverymen,  all 
doing  a  work  of  distribution  which  could  probably  be  done 


ii2  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

much  easier  by  one-tenth  the  number  working  systematically 
with  machinery ;  when  we  consider  the  enormous  expense  of 
buildings,  fences  and  other  improvements  for  private  opera- 
tion, which,  under  Socialism  would  be  unnecessary,  the  time 
speric  by  employers  hunting  for  men  and  by  men  hunting 
for  work;  the  time  spent  in  looking  up  the  best  market  for 
buying  and  the  best  market  for  selling;  also  the  waste  result- 
ing from  the  overproduction  of  some  articles — when  we  con- 
sider all  these  and  reflect  that  we  have  but  touched  the  bor- 
der, we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  the  number  on  the  other  side 
who  are  not  now  engaged  in  what,  under  Socialism  would 
be  useful  service,  is  very  large.  Suppose  it  is  only  half, 
and  that  the  workers  now  work  on  an  average  ten  hours  per 
day,  then  to  produce  the  same  by  the  same  methods  all  work- 
ing, would  only  require  five  hours  per  day;  or,  if  it  is  two- 
thirds  as  claimed,  only  three  and  one-third  hours  per  day. 
But  this  is  only  a  mere  beginning  of  economy.  Much  of  the 
work  formerly  done  by  hand  is  now  done  by  machines,  the 
same  number  of  men  doing  with  machines  from  five  to  one 
thousand  times  as  much  as  was  formerly  done  by  hand. 
Socialism  will  multiply  this  advantage  by  bringing  into  use 
far  greater  machines,  and  also  by  introducing  machines  to 
do  most  of  the  work  now  done  by  hand. 

Socialism  will  also  economize  by  the  application  of  sci- 
ence and  large  scale  methods  of  industry,  in  manufacture,  in 
transportation,  in  agriculture.  In  the  last  of  these  there  will 
probably  be  the  greatest  advancement  made  in  both  science 
and  large  scale  methods.  To  the  thinking  mind,  the  eco- 
nomic possibilities  of  Socialism  that  are  now  in  sight  are 
simply  wonderful.  And  still  there  is  the  great  unexplored 
field  lying  beyond.  What  wonder  that  Socialists  should  seem 
as  dreamers  to  those  who  have  not  investigated  the  subject? 
I  feel  sure  that  I  would  be  keeping  far  within  the  lines  of  a 
careful  and  cautious  conservatism,  to  say  that  with  each  one 
working  but  barely  enough  to  meet  the  requirements  of  his 
physical  health,  enough  could  be  produced  to  supply  all  the 
material  wants  of  the  people,  leaving  them  all  the  leisure 
necessary  for  the  cultivation  of  their  higher  natures.  If  any 
preferred  to  use  his  leisure  time  in  providing  for  himself 
more  of  the  luxuries  of  life,  probably  he  would  be  permitted 
to  do  so;  but  I  feel  confident  that  leisure  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  mind  in  all  its  phases,  moral,  intellectual,  social  and 
religious,  will  come  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  chief  neces- 
saries of  life.  I  know  that  some  have  hesitated  and  doubted 
and  feared  at  this  point.  "Idleness,"  they  say,  "begets  mis- 
chief." 

I  have  no  doubt  that  some  will  misuse  their  leisure.     I 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    OCCUPATIONS  113 

think  probably  a  considerable  number  will  do  so  at  first. 
Those  who  fear  that  under  Socialism  the  people  would  be 
"all  alike  just  like  two  peas"  will  be  agreeably  surprised  to 
find  their  fears  not  realized,  but  that  there  are  still  different 
degrees  of  standing  in  society,  based  on  moral  and  intellectual 
excellence,  instead  of  as  now,  on  financial  excellence.  One's 
standing  will  then  depend  mostly  on  how  he  uses  his  leisure 
time;  and  that  great  improvement  will  result  from  the  use  of 
this  higher  standard,  I  have  not  the  least  doubt.  And  since 
man  has  advanced  in  the  past  in  the  midst  of  corruptions,  dis- 
couragements and  adversity,  how  can  we  doubt  that  he  would 
amid  the  bright  and  encouraging  environment  of  Socialism, 
with  so  many  of  the  evils  and  temptations  removed.  It  is 
true  that  in  the  lower  stages  of  civilization  man  is  beset  with 
more  or  less  of  indolence ;  but  every  step  upward  brings  new 
aspirations  which  prompt  to  new  efforts  corresponding  to  the 
new  opportunities  afforded;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the 
ushering  in  of  Socialism  will  unlock  from  millions  of  breasts 
the  aspirations  for  a  grander,  higher  and  purer  life  which  the 
new  environment  would  permit  and  encourage.  The  higher 
man  rises  in  the  scale,  the  more  he  comes  to  realize  that  his 
highest  enjoyment  is  promoted  by  the  symmetrical  develop- 
ment of  all  his  faculties,  and  for  this,  Socialism  would  afford 
the  amplest  opportunity  to  all ;  and  not  only  opportunity, 
but  great  encouragement,  while  in  our  present  society  such 
opportunity  comes  to  comparatively  few,  and  to  those  few, 
generally  accompanied  by  great  temptations  amid  which  the 
higher  aspirations  are  usually  choked  out. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

DISTRIBUTION     OF     OCCUPATIONS     AND 
POPULATIONS. 

We  often  hear  people  asking  if  there  will  not  under 
Socialism  be  a  scrambling  for  the  best  places  while  the  dis- 
agreeable work  will  go  begging?  This,  at  first  glance,  seems 
a  very  serious  objection;  but  when  we  consider  the  changed 
environment  of  Socialism,  which  would  appeal  to  the  unsel- 
fish side  of  man's  nature  instead  of  the  selfish,  the  objection 
does  not  seem  so  great;  even  in  our  present  society,  man's 
better  nature  when  properly  appealed  to,  responds  with  a 
heartiness  that  is  really  encouraging.  In  cases  of  war,  the 
patriotism  of  the  people  is  appealed  to.  They  are  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  the  welfare  of  all  depends  on  each  one,  and 
each  realizes  his  individual  responsibility  and  discharges  it. 


n4  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

Such  appeals  are  not  usually  in  vain.  Why  then,  could  not 
the  same  appeal  be  made  in  time  of  peace  to  the  great  army 
of  workers  in  a  Socialist  nation.  We  often  find  shirkers 
but  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  where  men  are  placed  upon 
their  honor  and  permitted  to  do  the  kind  of  work  that  suits 
them,  the  proportional  number  of  shirkers  is  very  small.  I 
very  well  remember  the  days  when  the  men  of  each  neigh- 
borhood "swapped"  work  and  did  the  threshing  of  all.  I 
remember  too,  that  occasionally  there  were  charges  of  shirk- 
ing, but  I  do  not  remember  of  ever  hearing  of  a  crew  where 
so  many  shirked  as  to  cause  the  work  to  seriously  lag.  It  is 
related  that  when  the  New  Zealand  Government  built  their 
own  railways  the  men  organized  themselves  into  a  working 
force,  the  stronger  taking  the  harder  places  and  leaving  the 
easier  work  for  the  weaker.  Socialism  must  begin  with  the 
kind  of  men  that  are  developed  by  the  latter  end  of  capital- 
ism, and  since  the  effect  of  capitalism  is  to  make  men  more 
and  more  selfish  as  time  passes,  it  would  be  well  to  seek  some 
sort  of  device  to  guard  against  a  selfish  struggle  for  the 
best  positions.  And  again,  we  find  that  the  philosophy  of 
Socialism  is  not  wanting.  Mr.  Edward  Bellamy,  in  his  re- 
nowned work,  "Looking  Backward/'  sets  forth  a  plan  which 
meets  the  case  fully.  It  is  simply  to  increase  the  number  of 
hours  work  in  those  occupations  that  have  too  many  appli- 
cants and  reduce  the  number  of  hours  in  those  having  too 
few.  A  few  experiments  would  determine,  approximately, 
the  amount  of  work  required  in  each  in  order  to  secure  the 
right  number  of  applicants.  The  same  thing  could  be  ac- 
complished by  varying  wages  instead  of  the  number  of  hours 
or  amount  of  work. 

Mr.  Bellamy,  while  doing  a  grand  work  for  the  cause  of 
Socialism,  made  prominent  several  things  that  are  not  neces- 
sary parts  of  Socialism.  Among  these  were :  First,  govern- 
ment by  those  who  had  passed  the  age  of  industrial  service ; 
second,  a  sort  of  militarism,  a  rather  harmless  sort  perhaps,  in 
fact,  little  more  than  an  extreme  expression  for  thorough 
organization ;  third,  equal  wages. 

The  word  equality  stands  for  an  ideal  that  seems  to  have 
been  uppermost  in  his  mind.  It  is  one  of  the  closely  related 
group — equality,  concerted  movement,  co-operative  action, 
brotherly  sympathy  and  brotherly  helpfulness,  which,  all  com- 
bined, form  the  Socialist  ideal  and  may  all  be  summed  up 
in  the  one  word,  brotherhood.  In  my  opinion,  this  equality 
ideal,  is  not  so  popular  as  it  ought  to  be,  not  so  popular  as  it 
will  be  when  the  people  are  differently  educated.  Some  have 
a  great  horror  of  being-  "all  alike,  just  like  two  peas."  This 
idea  is  born  of  selfishness.  In  even  the  best  ideals  that  have 


DISTRIBUTION    OF   OCCUPATIONS  115 

been  so  far  held  up  before  the  minds  of  youth,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing characteristics  is  distinction.  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying 
that  nearly  every  one  who  purposely  does  great  good  to 
society  acts  from  a  composite  motive,  made  up  of  a  desire 
to  distinguish  himself,  coupled  with  a  desire  that  others  may 
be  benefited.  The  former  is  selfish,  the  latter  unselfish. 
The  idea  of  distinction  has  all  along  made  so  strong  an  im- 
press upon  the  minds  of  many  that  they  come  to  regard  it 
as  necessary  to  their  individuality.  A  desire  to  be  distin- 
guished above  our  fellows  is  but  selfish  vanity,  but  an 
abnormal  form  of  selfishness  that  brings  us  no  real  enjoyment 
and  more  often  reacts  in  the  disapproval  of  others  than  in 
their  coveted  approval.  Yet  this  desire  for  distinction  has 
served  a  good  purpose  in  society  in  the  centuries  past.  It 
has  been,  and  still  is,  exactly  suited  to  the  hitherto  undevel- 
oped and  partially  developed  condition  of  man. 

Man  finds  his  greatest  enjoyment  in  harmony.  He 
admires  and  honors  those  who  have  produced  the  greatest 
harmony  for  his  enjoyment.  Society  admires  and  accords 
great  honors  to  a  great  military  hero  who  produces  a  degree 
of  harmony  of  action  that  enables  his  army  to  break  and 
destroy  the  harmony  of  the  enemy.  We  admire  the  great 
musician  who  produces  harmony  of  sound ;  the  artist  who 
produces  harmony  of  form  and  color;  the  great  statesman 
who  produces  harmony  among  those  of  his  own  nation,  and 
the  great  philanthropic  diplomat  who  promotes  harmony 
among  the  nations.  We  admire  and  honor  great  writers  and 
speakers  who  are  able  to  produce  harmony  of  thought;  we 
honor  and  admire  all  thoce  who  have  done  great  good  to 
humanity,  because  in  so  doing  they  have  done  much  for  the 
promotion  of  harmony  in  the  world. 

In  the  early  stages  of  civilization  the  great  leader  was 
indispensable.  The  people  were  generally  ignorant;  they 
could  not  act  in  concert  with  a  common  intelligence,  for 
none  existed.  There  must  be  decisive  commands  issued  by 
a  great  leader  and  implicit  obedience  by  all  followers.  This 
was  the  only  way  to  protect  the  people  from  themselves,  and 
prevent  their  devouring  each  other.  The  leader  was  gener- 
ally tyrannical,  but  tyranny  was  better  than  anarchy.  As 
man  has  advanced  in  civilization,  he  has  come  to  act  more 
and  more  from  an  ever  increasing  common  intelligence,  and  to 
depend  less  and  less  upon  the  direction  of  great  leaders.  And 
when  the  world  becomes  fully  civilized  the  great  leader  will 
have  sunk  into  insignificance,  while  the  common  intelligence 
will  have  become  the  great  directing  force  by  which  harmon- 
ious action  will  be  preserved. 

Then,   conditions   will   be    changed;    influences   will    be 


n6  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

changed.  Then,  the  best  ideals  of  life  will  not  encourage  a 
selfish  longing  for  distinction  and  a  selfish  vanity  in  those 
who  have  acquired  it;  but  instead,  they  will  be  such  as  will 
appeal  to  each  one  to  strive  to  fit  himself  to  perform  intelli- 
gently his  part  in  the  great  living,  moving  machine  of  civili- 
zation, so  that  each  and  all  may  be  individually  and  collect- 
ively benefited.  The  motto  will  then  be  "each  for  all  and  all 
for  each."  Mr.  Bellamy's  picture  represents  all  as  putting  forth 
equal  effort  and  receiving  equal  wages;  and  he  was  particu- 
lar to  avoid  all  inequalities  in  wages,  by  providing  to  increase 
the  hours  of  those  having  the  easier  places  and  reducing  the 
hours  of  those  doing  the  harder  work.  While  the  equality 
idea  is  very  attractive  to  me,  yet  possibly  liberty  may  demand 
that  those  who  desire  to  work  more  than  the  standard  amount 
may  be  permitted  to  do  so,  and  receive  proportionately  more, 
while  those  preferring  to  work  less,  may  be  allowed  to  and 
receive  less,  but  the  last  part  of  this  must  be  taken  with  con- 
siderable modification.  It  might-be  unfair  to  their  families  if 
they  had  any;  while  if  their  families  received  a  full  share  it 
would  be  unfair  to  society.  But  no  doubt  this  question  will 
be  finally  settled  by  a  generation  that  is  far  more  competent  to 
settle  it  right  than  the  present. 

I  like  the  idea  of  equal  wages  for  equal  effort.  I  like  it 
first,  because  it  comports  with  the  principle  of  brotherhood — 
more  like  a  well  ordered  family  where  brotherly  love  reigns 
and  one  is  not  preferred  above  another.  The  sooner  we 
begin,  and  the  more  fully  we  practice  this  principle,  the  more 
rapidly  will  we  develop  true  brotherhood.  I  like  it  second, 
because  it  accords  with  the  same  principle  of  brotherhood  as 
is  enunciated  and  expounded  by  the  teachings  of  Christianity. 
"For  unto  whomsoever  much  is  given  of  him  shall  much  be 
required" ;  "he  that  had  gathered  much  had  nothing  over, 
and  he  that  had  gathered  little  had  no  lack";  and  "let  each 
seek  another's  and  not  his  own  good" ;  in  other  words,  each 
is  accountable  according  to  his  ability  and  deserves  according 
to  his  effort.  I  like  it  third,  because  I  believe  that  usually, 
talents  differ  mainly  in  kind  rather  than  in  degree,  and  that 
if  the  person  reputed  to  have  little  talent  be  put  to  work  at 
what  he  is  best  adapted  to  do,  he  will  not  generally  fall  so 
far  behind  the  most  talented  as  is  supposed.  Often  the  man 
of  great  managing  capacity  would  fail  for  want  of  some 
particular  mental  trait  in  what  is  considered  an  insignificant 
work,  and  which  is  easily  done  by  one  having  that  particular 
trait  but  who  has  little  or  no  managing  capacity.  Question : — 
If  each  does  what  the  other  could  not,  and  the  work  of  each 
is  equally  necessary  to  society,  who  can  say  who  does  the 
greater  work?  Again,  take  the  man  of  superior  mental 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    OCCUPATIONS  117 

endowment,  who  is  capable  of  taking  the  helm  and  steering 
the  ship  of  state,  who,  as  is  often  the  case,  is  inferior  physic- 
ally, place  him  beside  the  man  of  giant  body  and  herculean 
strength  who  has  little  mental  capacity,  but  who  can  perform 
physical  labor  that  is  far  beyond  the  other's  ability.  Ques- 
tion : — If  the  work  of  each  is  equally  indispensable,  which 
does  the  greater  work? 

"Oh,"  you  say,  "the  brainy  man  of  course;  he  does  the 
work  that  so  few  can  do."  Yes,  that  sounds  all  right  as  the 
world  goes  now;  but  let  us  remember  that  Socialism  is  a 
science;  that  the  Socialist  nation  will  be  conducted  on  sci- 
entific principles;  and  let  us  not  forget  that  the  people  under 
Socialism  will  be  much  better  educated  than  now,  so  that 
most  of  them  will  understand  well  the  science  of  Socialism ; 
that  the  administration  of  the  public  function,  though  en- 
larged in  its  scope,  will  be  much  simpler,  so  that  very  likely 
there  will  be  millions  of -people  in  the  United  States,  able  to 
perform  well  the  work  of  the  highest  places  in  the  nation. 
And  besides,  let  us  not  forget  that  the  performance  of  dis- 
agreeable work  deserves  great  remuneration  and  that  under 
Socialism  the  physical  work  requiring  the  least  skill  will  be  gen- 
erally the  most  disagreeable  and  the  most  avoided,  and  there- 
fore would  be,  strictly  speaking,  entitled  to  the  highest  wages ; 
but  sound  policy  might  perhaps  forbid  it,  in  order  to  encour- 
age the  unskilled  to  try  to  become  skilled. 

Fourth,  I  like  the  idea  of  equal  wages  for  equal  effort, 
because,  under  Socialism,  all  those  doing  work  requiring  skill 
will  owe  the  public  for  their  training.  All  will  receive  a  gen- 
eral education  at  public  expense,  probably  continuing  to  a 
certain  age ;  then,  those  whose  examinations  show  their  inca- 
pacity for  any  kind  of  skilled  labor,  and  those  who  prefer,  will 
be  assigned  to  unskilled  labor,  which  will  probably  be  a  very 
small  field,  while  the  others  of  the  same  age  will  go  into 
special  training  for  shorter  or  longer  periods,  depending  upon 
the  nature  of  the  work  they  expect  to  do.  The  training  of 
some  will  last  but  a  short  time,  probably  a  few  months,  while 
others,  physicians  for  instance,  will  require  several  years. 
The  time  of  service  of  each  one  will  begin  when  he  begins 
his  special  training,  so  that  the  whole  expense,  time  included, 
will  he  borne  by  the  public,  that  is  to  say  he  will  begin  to 
draw  wages  when  he  enters  upon  such  special  training.  We 
must  admit,  however,  that  the  case  will  stand  somewhat  dif- 
ferently during  the  formative  period  of  Socialism.  At  the 
beginning,  some  will  have  acquired  skill  by  their  own  indus- 
try and  perseverance  and  that  will  be  a  reason  for  some 
inequality  at  first. 

Fifth,  I  like  it  because  it  accords  perfectly  with  the  insur- 


n8  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

ance  idea  of  society  that  Socialism  proposes  to  practice,  of 
insuring  each  member  of  society  against  all  misfortune  what- 
soever. It  is  a  misfortune  to  have  less  than  the  average 
ability;  and  if  for  this  reason,  the  labor  of  some  is  worth 
more  than  that  of  others,  who  should  pay  the  insurance  for 
this  misfortune,  but  those  whose  ability  is  above  the  average. 
Equal  wages  would  exactly  settle  the  whole  account. 

Sixth,  I  like  this  method  because  inequality  of  wages 
would  tend  to  cause  more  or  less  caste,  corruption  and  tyranny, 
depending  on  the  extent  of  such  inequality,  which  would 
breed  more  or  less  irritation.  Of  course,  if  the  inequality 
should  be  small  as  it  would  have  to  be,  to  be  at  all  in  accord- 
ance with  the  proposition  of  Socialism,  these  evil  tendencies 
will  be  but  slight.  On  the  other  hand,  equality  in  wages 
would  obviate  these  evils.  There  would  be  a  better,  a  more 
brotherly  feeling.  There  would  be  far  less  encouragement 
to  ostentation,  which  almost  invariably  produces  one  of  two 
results;  either  an  irritability  which  is  unpleasant,  or  a  ser- 
vility which  is  degrading.  In  former  times,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent yet,  monarchs  delighted  in  parading  before  their  sub- 
jects with  great  ostentation  in  food,  dress,  liveried  servants, 
equipages,  etc.  The  people  caught  the  same  spirit  and  car- 
ried it  each  to  the  extent  of  his  ability.  We  now  smile  at  their 
folly,  for  we  recognize  ostentation  as  the  stamp  of  ignorant 
selfishness,  and  congratulate  ourselves  for  having  learned 
better.  Now  we  consider  it  in  better  taste  and  prefer  to  be 
dressed  somewhat  like  other  people.  But  there  is  still  a 
considerable  amount  of  ostentation  in  the  world  of  one  kind 
and  another  and  will  continue  to  be  while  there  remains  ignor- 
ance and  selfishness  to  prompt  it  and  opportunity  for  its 
expression.  When  this  opportunity  is  no  longer  afforded,  and 
when  ignorance  is  dispelled  by  the  glowing  light  of  truth, 
selfishness  will  decrease  until  there  comes  about  a  healthier 
sentiment,  so  that  those  of  superior  endowments  will  regard 
it  as  in  bad  taste  for  them  to  accept  additional  remuneration, 
any  use  of  which  would  be  considered  ostentatious.  They 
would  spurn  to  accept  the  proffered  enjoyment  of  any  of  the 
good  things  of  life  which  their  brothers,  while  putting  forth 
the  same  effort,  are  forbidden  to  enjoy.  If  there  should  be 
any  lurking  selfishness  left,  it  would  find  expression  .in  its 
higher  form  of  desire  for  the  honor  and  esteem  of  his  fellows. 
The  crown  of  laurel  would  be  his  highest  ambition  in  this 
direction.  Permit  me  to  say  in  passing,  that  the  very  highest 
selfish  motive  by  which  one  may  be  actuated  is  found  in 
the  maxim  that  "he  benefits  himself  most  who  strives  most 
to  benefit  others."  The  next  step  brings  him  to  that  entirely 
unselfish  motive  which  Christianity  emphasizes,  of  doing 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    OCCUPATIONS  119 

good  to  others  out  of  a  pure  brotherly  desire  for  their  welfare, 
without  regard  to  any  benefit  of  any  kind  whatsoever  that 
he  himself  may  receive.  It  will  require  a  long  time,  prob- 
ably hundreds,  and  possibly  thousands  of  years  under  Social- 
ism, for  the  main  body  of  society  to  attain  to  such  a  degree 
of  perfection.  If  some  of  my  readers  think  it  impossible  of 
attainment,  we  will  not  quarrel  about  that;  but  I  will  say, 
that  in  this  is  found  the  highest  ideal  of  Christianity,  which 
finds  its  genuine  expression  in  that  pure  and  simple  word, 
love,  and  that  I  have  pursued  this  line  of  thought  in  order 
to  show  how  well  Socialism  is  adapted  to  promote  the  reali- 
zation of  the  ideals  of  Christianity;  and  I  call  your  attention 
further  to  the  fact,  that  their  realization  is  impossible  under 
our  present  system.  Socialism  would  furnish  the  good  and 
honest  heart,  the  soil  in  which  Christianity  may  grow  and 
flourish  and  bud  .and  blossom,  and  bring  forth  fruit,  while 
you  have  only  to  look  about  you  to  see  that  the  tendency  of 
our  present  system  is  to  furnish  the  bad  and  dishonest  heart. 
Socialism  therefore,  is  perfectly  adapted  to  promote  the 
growth  of  pure  Christianity,  is  perfectly  practicable  for  that 
purpose,  while  for  the  same  purpose,  capitalism  having  the 
continual  tendency  to  corrupt,  uproot  and  choke  out  Chris- 
tianity, is  utterly  impracticable. 

With  equal  wages,  the  only  difference  that  could  tend  to 
form  society  into  classes  (excepting  what  is  produced  by 
racial  difference)  are  moral  and  intellectual  qualities,  and 
these  in  each  case,  would  depend  largely  on  how  the  person 
spends  his  leisure  time. 

But,  after  all  said  in  favor  of  equal  wages  for  equal  effort, 
as  we  have  already  mentioned,  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  success  of  Socialism.  That  is  to  say,  Socialism  inaugu- 
rated with  a  small  inequality  would  be  fairly  successful.  I 
am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  it  will  start  this  way,  though 
I  have  but  little  doubt  that  the  question  will  finally  be-  settled 
in  favor  of  equality.  I  know  how  unfavorably  the  equal 
wages  idea  seems  to  strike  many  people.  Our  present  en- 
vironment controls  our  thought  on  this  point  to  so  great  an 
extent  that  I  doubt  if  the  majority  would  vote  for  the  propo- 
sition to  pay  equal  wages  for  equal  effort;  and  I  should  not 
be  surprised  if  a  large  majority  of  those  who  vote  in  the  co- 
operative commonwealth  vote  against  equal  wages  and 
instead  continue  for  a  considerable  time,  probably  until  the 
thoroughly  trained  new  generation  comes  in,  possibly  longer, 
with  some  ineoualitv  in  washes. 

For  myself,  I  must  confess  that  although  the  equality 
idea  contained  in  this  proposition  has  from  the  first  been  very 
pleasing  to  me,  and  though  I  have  been  inclined  to  favor  it 


120  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

as  a  matter  of  good  policy,  I  have  all  along  had  some  doubt, 
and  it  was  not  till  I  took  the  time  to  analyze  the  proposition 
carefully,  that  I  became  thoroughly  convinced  of  its  sound- 
ness. When  the  people  vote  to  inaugurate  Socialism,  it  will 
be  at  least  partially  for  the  purpose  of  getting  rid  of  some  of 
the  inequalities  of  our  present  system ;  and  we  may  be  sure 
that  they  will  not  provide  very  great  inequalities  in  the  new 
system.  All  the  essential  features  of  Socialism  would  exist, 
and  it  would  be  far  more  practicable  than  the  present  system, 
as  a  means  of  promoting  the  general  welfare. 

Distribution  of  Populations. 

One  of  the  most  gratifying  results  of  Socialism  will  be 
the  scattering  out  of  the  congested  city  populations  and  bring- 
ing together  the  country  populations  into  a  closer  communi- 
cation with  the  rest  .of  the  world.  There  will  no  longer  be 
the  five  cent  fare  .that  now  compels  so  many  thousands  to 
pay  exorbitant  rents  for  their  small  quarters  in  filthy  tene- 
ments at  long  distances  from  their  work.  While  it  would 
still  be  advantageous  to  live  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of 
one's  work,  the  facilities  for  travel  will  be  so  improved  and 
cheapened  by  the  adoption  of  system  and  large  scale  methods 
that  it  would  no  longer  be  necessary  to  sacrifice  health  by 
living  in  the  midst  of  unwholesome  surroundings ;  and  if 
necessary,  labor  to  be  performed  in  unhealthful  places  could 
be  done  by  those  living  at  long  distances.  If  not  enough 
volunteered  for  the  work  in  the  less  desirable  parts  of  the 
country,  and  too  many  in  the  more  desirable  parts,  then,  the 
amount  of  work  would  be  varied  till  the  proper  balance  is 
reached,  but  as  the  tastes  and  preferences  of  people  concern- 
ing climate  differ  so  widely,  it  would,  I  think,  result  practi- 
cally in  each  family  being  able  to  live  in  the  climate  of  its 
own  choosing. 

The  Race  Question.  Socialism  recognizes  the  fact  that 
all  the  people  of  the  earth  have  a  natural  right  to  all  the 
earth;  that  if  the  Japanese,  the  Chinese  and  the  Hindoos  are 
so  overcrowded  in  their  own  country  that  they  can  no  longer 
gain  a  subsistence,  it  is  their  perfect  moral  right  to  go  into 
other  parts  of  the  world  where  they  can.  But  Socialism  also 
recognizes  reason,  not  only  in  its  construction,  but  also  in  its 
introduction ;  recognizes  the  fact  that  we  must  begin  with 
man  as  he  is  and  move  forward  as  we  can,  keeping  the  gen- 
eral welfare  in  view.  Since  the  Socialist  movement  is  a  move- 
ment along  political  lines  and  the  manv  nations  are  politically 
independent,  the  movement  in  each  nation  must  be  more  or 
less  independent.  Here  in  the  United  States  of  America, 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    POPULATIONS  121 

when  we  go  before  the  people  with  the  Socialistic  proposition, 
we  must  put  it  in  practicable  tangible  form,  something  that 
they  can  take  hold  of,  must  at  least  outline  a  course  of  poli- 
tical policy  that  could  be  pursued  by  the  American  people  as 
a  separate  nation.     One  of  the  first  things  would  be  to  con- 
sider the  condition  of  the  outside  world.    If  some  of  the  other 
nations  had  already  adopted   Socialism,  our  attitude  toward 
and   dealings  with  them  would  no  doubt  be  quite  different 
from  our  attitude  and  dealings  with  those  who  had  not.     We 
must  keep  continually  in  view,  the  general  welfare.     When 
we  begin  the  establishment  of  Socialism,  the  important  chief 
objective  point  will  be  success.    The  importance  of  this  point 
will  be  emphasized  if  we  should  be  the  first  to  adopt  Social- 
ism.    The  world  would  be  interested,  deeply  interested,  in 
our  experiment.     We  could  not  afford  to  make  unnecessary 
mistakes.     So  then  if  our  adoption  should  start  such  a  rush 
to  our  shores  from  other  nations  as  would  seriously  handicap 
our  work,  it  would  be  our  manifest  duty  to  at  once  cut  off 
immigration,   not   only   Asiatic   but   perhaps    also    European. 
And  this  would  be  to  the  interest  of  the  people  excluded  as 
well  as  to  ourselves.    As  to  the  Orientals,  it  would  probably 
be   a   good   thing  for  ourselves   and   a   great   benefit   to   the 
Japanese,  if  we  would  sell  or  give  them  the  Philipines.     The 
Chinese  are  adapted  to  a  warm  climate  and  the  great  com- 
mercial nations  could,  if  they  would,  open  for  their  relief,  a 
number  of  new  warm  countries  that  are  not  well  adapted  to 
white  settlement.     But  there  is  not  likely  to  be  much  done  in 
this  direction  while  the  civilized  governments  are  capitalistic. 
Capitalism  cares  little  for  her  own  poor,   much   less  for  the 
heathen  Chinese.    When  all  the  great  nations  become  Social- 
istic, it  will  be  easy  to  distribute  the  populations  of  the  earth 
satisfactorily.    There  would  be  no  reason  under  Socialism  for 
keeping    any    human    beings    crowded    together    like    rats 
and    preventing    their    rising    to    self    respecting    manhood. 
There  is  still  a  great  abundance  of  room  for  the  present  popu- 
lation of  the  earth  and  when  science,  which  is  probably  yet  in 
its  infancy  becomes  further  developed,  the  resources  of  even 
crowded  China  may  be  sufficient  to  produce  an  abundance  for 
several    times    its    present    population.      Under    Socialism    it 
could  easily  be  arranged  if  so  desired,  for  the  various  races  to 
live  separately  in  separate  nations,  separate  provinces,  separ- 
ate states,  separate  countries  or  parts  of  countries,  or  even 
separate  portions  of  the   same  city  if  there  should  continue 
to  be  cities.     There  would  be  little  occasion  for  friction  and 
race  hatred.     Socialism  is  perfectly  adapted  to  furnishing  a 
peaceful   and  satisfactory  solution  of  the   distribution  of  all 
the  races  and  peoples  over  the  earth.     Socialism  would  do 


122  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

away  with  wars.  "The  nations  would  learn  war  no  more." 
Would  "Beat  their  swords  into  plow  shares  and  their  spears 
into  priming  hooks."  On  this  point  Socialism  is  practicable, 
while  capitalism  has  continually  generated  race  prejudice 
and  race  hatred,  prevented  the  proper  distribution  of  the 
world's  population,  stirred  up  strife,  and  pitted  the  workers  of 
the  various  countries  against  each  other  in  devastating  wars 
which  have  drenched  the  earth  with  blood.  It  goes  without 
saying,  that  on  this  point  capitalism  has  proven  a  total  failure 
and  is  therefore  utterly  impracticable.  Capitalism  corrupts 
society  in  all  its  phases,  social,  political,  educational  and 
religious.  It  throws  over  truth  in  all  its  departments  a  veil 
through  which  it  is  very  difficult  to  distinguish  it  from  false- 
hood. Yes,  we  see  that  capitalism  fails  as  a  promoter  of 
honesty,  and  promotes  dishonesty  instead.  It  fails  as  a  pro- 
moter of  purity  of  any  sort,  and  promotes  corruption  of  all 
sorts.  It  fails  as  a  promoter  of  knowledge  and  truth,  and  pro- 
motes ignorance  and  falsehood.  So  then  we  see  that  capital- 
ism fails  utterly  at  every  important  point. 

Whatever  good  may  have  been  accomplished  by  capital- 
ism in  the  past,  it  has  run  its  course.  It  has  become  a  dead 
thing  in  the  road  to  progress.  It  was  the  trust  that  killed  it. 
It  has  become  a  trustified  fossil.  Heretofore  it  has  brought 
both  blessing  and  cursing.  It  has  now  passed  the  point  where 
the  blessings  began  to  decrease  and  the  cursings  to  increase. 
There  is  no  ground  for  hope  that  it  will  be  otherwise  under 
capitalism  than  that  conditions  will  continue  to  grow  worse. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION. 

We  now  continue  the  showing  process  in  a  brief  con- 
sideration of  the  various  departments  of  life  in  the  Socialistic 
commonwealth.  We  have  been  trying  to  present  to  the 
imagination  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  whole  field  of  Socialism 
in  action ;  let  us  now  pass  through  the  various  departments  of 
this  great  field  of  activity  and  take  a  number  of  snap  shots  at 
close  range. 

Industrial  administration  may  be  classified  into  three 
great  departments,  viz. :  Production  of  Raw  Material,  Manu- 
facture, and  Transportation. 

Raw  Material. 

Mining.  Since  gold  and  silver  would  probably  no  longer 
be  used  for  money,  and  the  amount  now  in  use  as  such  would 


INDUSTRIAL    ORGANIZATION  123 

be  sufficient  for  a  long  time  to  supply  the  need  of  it  for  other 
purposes,  the  mining  of  these  metals  might  perhaps  mostly 
cease  for  a  time,  unless  they  could  be  exchanged  for  neces- 
saries produced  by  the  people  of  other  countries  that  have  not 
adopted  Socialism.  If  the  administration  could  procure  in 
this  way  articles  which  the  people  want  with  less  labor  than 
to  let  the  mines  lie  idle  and  produce  them  directly,  it  would 
be  the  proper  thing  to  do ;  but  in  either  case  all  the  time  that 
is  now  spent  in  mining  metals  for  money  purposes  would, 
under  Socialism  be  saved  and  applied  elsewhere  to  lessen  the 
burden  of  each  one  who  labors  in  the  production  of  neces- 
saries. 

Mining  of  all  sorts,  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  lead,  coal, 
etc.,  is  now  nearly  all  conducted  by  companies,  mostly  by 
great  companies.  Most  of  these  have  more  or  less  organization 
and  method  in  their  work.  Socialism  will  reorganize  them 
under  one  system  and  management  and  will  adopt  larger  scale 
methods  and  larger  machinery.  Is  there  any  reason  why  the 
same  men  with  a  unified  and  systematic  organization  should 
not  be  able  to  carry  the  work  forward  even  more  successfully 
than  before?  If  not,  Socialism  would  be  more  practicable 
than  capitalism  in  mining. 

Money.  Under  Socialism  there  will  be  little  or  no  use 
for  money.  The  financial  dealings  of  each  person,  being  all,  or 
nearly  all,  with  the  public  will  probably  be  conducted  by  book 
account.  The  standard  hour's  work,  or  day's  work  will  prob- 
ably become  the  standard  for  measuring  all  values.  If  money 
should  be  used,  it  will  probably  be  of  paper  exclusively.  It 
will  be  much  cheaper  and  more  convenient  than  metal  money. 
The  intrinsic  value  sticklers  who  object  to  legal  tender  paper 
money  now,  cannot  object  to  it  then,  since  it  will  be  based 
upon  the  most  unerring  and  steady  of  all  intrinsic  values,  the 
labor  time  check. 

Lumbering  and  Fishing.  These,  like  mining,  are  import- 
ant industries  that  gather  raw  materials  from  the  great  store 
house  of  nature.  They  also  are  handled  by  great  companies 
and  the  forces  that  now  operate  them  might  continue  the 
work  more  successfully  because  of  more  thorough,  systematic 
and  unified  organization. 

Agriculture,  the  only  other  important  raw  material  pro- 
ducing industry,  will,  for  convenience,  be  considered  in  a 
separate  chapter. 

Manufacture. 

This  is  already  a  very  extensive  branch  of  industry,  and 
is  continually  becoming  wider  in  its  scope. 


i24  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

Under  this  head  will  be  considered  all  work  which,  either 
by  machinery  or  by  hand,  transforms  the  raw  material  into 
the  finished  product  or  passes  it  to  a  stage  nearer  the  finished 
product.  Under  Socialism  nearly  all  this  work  will  be  done 
by  machinery. 

Manufacturing  includes,  First,  all  buildings  of  all  kinds, 
cars,  boats,  ships,  docks,  public  works,  streets,  sidewalks, 
roads,  railroads,  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  pipe  lines,  etc. 

It  only  requires  the  application  of  great  machinery,  such 
as  a  Socialist  administration  could  easily  bring  into  requisi- 
tion, to  make  use  of  manufacturing  processes  already  invented 
and  reduce  the  cost  of  building  to  a  small  fraction  of  what  it 
is  now.  The  roofs  and  sides  of  houses,  flues,  ceilings  of 
rooms,  etc.,  will  probably  be  turned  out  in  large  sections  by 
great  machines,  so  that  the  work  of  erection  will  be  a  mere 
breakfast  spell  compared  with  what  it  is  now.  Immense 
machines  will  greatly  reduce  the  cost  of  roads,  railroads  and 
nearly  all  the  items  in  the  list. 

Science  in  all  the  industries  will  be  much  more  cheaply 
and  systematically  applied  than  now.  The  great  manufactur- 
ers now  employ  corps  of  scientific  experts,  being  very  careful 
to  keep  secret  from  their  competitors  the  results  of  their 
experiments,  in  order  that  they  may  be  able  to  produce  more 
cheaply  and  undersell  them  in  the  market.  As  it  is  now, 
many  expensive  experiments  are  no  doubt  repeated  over  and 
over  many  times  by  independent  companies,  where  then,  one 
will  suffice. 

And  let  us  not  forget  that  while  at  present  every  man  that 
is  displaced  by  a  machine  or  scientific  improvement,  discovery 
or  device,  helps  to  swell  the  army  of  the  suffering  unemployed 
and  sharpen  the  competition  that  tends  to  reduce  the  wages  of 
all  the  workers,  under  Socialism  each  man  so  displaced  will 
help  to  lighten  the  burden  of  all  the  workers. 

Machinery.  The  manufacture  of  machinery  has  become 
a  great  industry.  It  now  includes  not  only  machines  great 
and  small  for  doing  a  very  large  part  of  the  work  in  all  the 
industries,  but  also  great  machines  for  the  manufacture  of 
other  machines.  Under  Socialism  the  scale  of  operation  will 
be  so  enlarged  that  far  greater  machines  of  all  sorts,  doing 
much  more  work  to  the  number  of  men  employed,  will  do 
with  less  human  effort  not  only  all  the  work  now  done  by 
machinery,  but  also  nearly  all  the  work  now  done  by  hand. 
There  is  no  reason  why  the  government  could  not  consoli- 
date this  branch  of  the  manufacturing  industry  under  one 
management,  the  men  keeping  their  places  mostly  at  first 
till  the  improvements  could  be  introduced,  and  go  right  on 
successfully. 


INDUSTRIAL    ORGANIZATION  125 

Furniture  and  Clothing.  The  above  remarks  concerning 
consolidated  organization,  larger  machinery,  larger  scale 
methods  and  economy  of  human  effort  apply  with  equal  force 
in  the  manufacture  of  all  kinds  of  furniture  and  clothing;  for 
most  clothing  will  then  be  made  by  machinery. 

Food  Products.  Most  foods  require  various  processes  of 
preparation  of  the  raw  product  before  it  is  ready  for  use. 
Among  these  -is  included  cooking,  and  for  convenience  we 
extend  it  to  include  dish  washing.  At  present  nearly  all  this 
is  done  by  woman's  hand  work.  Some  machines  have  already 
been  introduced,  among  which  are  machines  for  making  and 
baking  bread,  pies  and  cakes,  and  for  washing  dishes.  Such 
inventions  can  now  only  be  used  profitably  in  great  public 
houses,  but  under  Socialism  there  would  be  no  reason  why 
this  work  should  not  all  be  done  at  great  central  kitchens 
and  the  food  sent  all  warm  and  steaming  in  folded  tables,  by 
rail  or  pneumatic  tube,  to  all  the  people  in  the  vicinity.  Per- 
haps the  women  may  say  this  is  too  good  to  believe.  But 
look  at  the  proposition.  Can  you  think  of  any  reason  under 
the  sun  why  it  could  not  be  realized?  Is  there  any  except 
"It  never  has  been  done?"  But  wait!  Let  us  not  leave  this 
point  too  hastily. 

And  now  come  ye  matrons  and  ye  maids;  come  and  take 
a  look  at  the  kitchen,  the  mussy  kitchen  with  its  pots  and 
pans  and  kettles,  its  coal  hod,  scattered  kindling  and  catch- 
all  wood  box.  Now  take  a  peep  into  the  littered  pantry,  shud- 
der at  the  milk  that  must  be  thrown  out,  or  at  other  articles 
upset  by  the  cat  or  polluted  by  contact  with  the  filthy  mouse 
trap ;  then  turn  again  to  the  kitchen,  the  woman's  bastile  of 
all  ages.  Stop  and  sigh,  but  not  too  loud.  The  sound  of 
your  own  voice  may  startle  you,  for  you  may  be  mostly 
alone  in  your  imprisonment  and  not  much  accustomed  to  the 
sound  of  human  voices.  "Yes,  there  is  the  floor 

That  yester  morn  was  scoured  so  bright, 
And  see  it  now,  it's  like  a  fright." 

If  you  utter  this  or  some  other  rhyme  it  will  probably  be 
purely  accidental  and  not  because  your  mind  is  in  a  rhythmical 
mood.  "But  accidents  will  happen,"  you  say.  "Yes,  and  there 
is  that  horde  of  breakfast  dishes,  dinner  dishes,  supper  dishes, 
to-day,  to-morow,  next  day  and  so  on,  and  on  and  on  and  on 
and  on." 

And  all  this  drudgery  may  be  done  with  perhaps  a  tithe 
of  the  work,  by  using  system,  machinery  and  large  scale 
methods.  This,  however,  expresses  but  a  part  of  the  emanci- 
pation that  lies  in  store  for  woman,  but,  seems  to  me,  it  ought 


126  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

to  be  enough  to  induce  every  woman  in  the  land  to  enlist  in 
the  cause  of  Socialism,  if  she  could  by  any  means  be  made  to 
understand  how  much  it  means  to  her.  "The  rich,"  you  say. 
Yes,  I  suppose  I  must  except  some  women  of  wealth,  but  even 
amid  the  allurements  and  corruptions  of  plutocratic  society 
I  think  the  heart  of  woman  could  be  reliedfon  to  intercede  in 
behalf  of  her  enslaved  sisters,  if  only  she  could  be  undeceived 
as  to  the  practicability  of  Socialism.  There  is  the  rub,  how- 
ever, for  woman  has  generally  been  easily  deceived,  since  the 
day  that  the  serpent  talked  with  mother  Eve. 

Water,  Light  and  Heat.  If  the  reader  will  stop  and 
think  here,  it  will  probably  enlighten  him  more  than  any- 
thing I  can  write.  Nearly  all  know  more  or  less  of  how  these 
are  procured  in  the  cities.  You  know  somewhat  of  the  ex- 
tortion that  usually  attends  the  private  ownership  of  these  and 
of  the  graft  that  is  likely  to  be  connected  with  public  owner- 
ship under  our  present  system,  but  for  which  there  would  be 
no  temptation  nor  opportunity  under  Socialism.  You  know  of 
the  impure  and  disease  producing  water  that  is  often  fur- 
nished because  it  is  cheaper.  You  know  that  private  cor- 
porations conduct  these  for  all  that  the  traffic  will  bear,  and 
that  wherever  capitalism  touches  them  under  public  manage- 
ment it  taps  them  for  all  there  is  in  it. 

You  know  that  even  with  capitalism  exacting  tribute 
at  every  point,  as  it  does,  there  is  now  an  advantage  in  using 
furnace  heat  of  the  various  kinds  wherever  it  can  be  done 
on  a  large  scale.  You  also  know  how  expensive  it  is  for  a 
small  plant  to  furnish  heat  for  one  family.  Think  then, 
how  the  case  would  stand  under  Socialism;  with  no  private 
ownership  to  charge  all  the  traffic  will  bear,  and  no  capi- 
talism to  tap  public  ownership  at  a  hidden  point  and  graft 
on  its  private  pipe  line,  but  with  the  government  in  full  pos- 
session of  all  the  industries  and  of  all  resources  and  mater- 
ials so  as  to  provide  the  greatest  ec9nomy  in  cost,  and 
with  an  administration  having  no  other  interest  to  conserve 
than  to  follow  the  motto,  "maximum  of  efficiency  and  mini- 
mum of  cost." 

Think  how  much  cheaper  the  government,  using  large 
scale  methods  in  collecting  raw  materials,  in  manufacturing, 
in  transportation  etc.,  could  furnish  heat  from  a  common 
furnace  to  a  large  number  of  private  families.  Think  of  all 
these  things  and  ask  yourself  the  question,  "Is  this  part  of 
Socialism  practicable?" 


INDUSTRIAL    ORGANIZATION  127 

Transportation,  Communication  and  Travel. 

This  is  a  very  important  as  well  as  very  extensive  branch 
of  industry.  It  is,  however,  probably  but  yet  in  its  infancy 
and  will  be  greatly  developed  under  Socialism,  so  that  our 
present  facilities  will  compare  as  a  pigmy  beside  a  giant. 

Government  ownership  and  management  of  facilities  for 
transportation  and  communication  is  not  a  new  thing  under 
the  sun.  It  is  no  longer  an  experiment,  at  least  not  in  any 
practical  sense  although  some  insist  that  it  is,  and  that  we 
ought  to  try  the  experiment  of  government  ownership  on  a 
small  scale  but  doubt  the  wisdom  of  our  acting  on  the  experi- 
ments of  other  countries  for  fear  that  different  conditions  in 
this  country  might  cause  a  different  result.  But  if  we  should 
try  the  experiment  on  a  small  scale,  we  might  with  the  same 
propriety  fear  that  conditions  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
might  cause  a  different  result.  The  fact  is  such  a  course  is 
entirely  unprogressive  and  impracticable.  We  do  not  pro- 
ceed in  that  way  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  We  do  not 
generally  stop  to  try  an  experiment,  but  apply  reason  to  the 
experience  of  others  and  go  right  on  determined  to  succeed. 

After  most  of  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth  have  tried 
government  ownership  and  have  all  succeeded,  it  would  be 
decidedly  un-American  for  us  to  hesitate  in  fear  of  failure. 
Is  this  America,  bold,  fearless,  proud  and  progressive? 
America  that  led  the  world?  And  doth  she  now  crouch  in 
fear?  Is  she  about  to  become  the  laughing  stock  of  the 
nations?  With  all  its  openings  for  graft  and  tendency  toward 
paternalism  the  government  ownership  experiments  of  the 
world  seem  to  have  proven  successful,  or  at  least  for  better 
than  private  corporations  charging  all  the  traffic  will  bear. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  municipal  ownership.  Wherever 
public  ownership  reduces  rates  without  reducing  wages  of 
employees,  no  doubt  the  people  at  the  bottom  are  benefited 
somewhat,  but  for  the  most  part  it  is  rather  a  division  of  the 
booty  among  the  small  exploiters,  instead  of  among  the  great 
capitalists.  Like  all  social  reform  measures,  about  the  most 
that  can  be  expected  of  government  and  municipal  ownership 
of  railways  is  to  do  something  toward  preventing  the  building 
up  of  great  fortunes  to  swallow  the  smaller  ones.  The  con- 
dition of  the  class  at  the  bottom  is  not  affected  much  except 
in  having  a  larger  number  of  masters  to  serve.  The  point  I 
make  is  that  public  ownership  has  been  proven  successful  for 
the  class  having  charge  of  it. 

But  government  ownership  of  railroads  with  nearly  all 
other  industries  in  private  hands,  and  mostly  of  great  cor- 


128  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

porations,  is  a  very  different  thing  from  Socialism  in  which 
the  government  will  not  be  handicapped  by  the  corporate 
ownership  of  other  forms  of  wealth  and  by  a  bonded  indebt- 
edness in  favor  of  great  moneyed  kings.  Under  Socialism 
there  will  be  no  opportunity  for  graft  nor  incentive  to  pater- 
nalism. Transportation  will  be  our  strong  fort.  It  will  be 
the  key  to  success  in  all  other  industries,  for  many  materials 
that  are  superior  for  building  and  other  purposes  that  are  now 
practically  cut  out  of  the  question  by  high  rates  of  trans- 
portation will  then  come  into  general  use.  The  new  regime 
will  bring  practically  every  man's  door  to  the  railroad,  by 
settling  the  people  along  the  passenger  lines. 

In  educational  work,  the  railways  will  be  used  by  pupils 
in  attending  school,  wherever  it  is  more  convenient,  fares  not 
being  thought  of.  Even  now  in  New  Zealand  school  children 
are  carried  free.  There  will  be  a  greater  number  of  youth 
seeking  a  higher  education,  and  consequently  colleges  will 
be  multiplied,  so  that  nearly  all  college  students  may  board  at 
home  without  any  considerable  cost  or  inconvenience,  though 
they  could  board  away  almost  as  cheaply.  Travel  will  be  so 
cheapened  by  system  and  the  great  volume  of  it,  and  all  the 
people  will  be  so  well  able  to  afford  it,  that  it  will  undoubt- 
edly increase  many  fold.  Farmers  will  live  in  the  villages  like 
other  people,  and  travel  to  and  from  their  work  by  rail.  Much 
of  the  now  useless  work  of  the  cities  will  be  dispensed  with, 
and  at  all  events  the  people  of  the  congested  portions  that 
now  breed  so  much  of  disease  both  moral  and  physical,  will 
be  scattered  out  along  electric  lines,  and  if  our  great  industries 
should  remain  concentrated  in  our  grert  cities  somewhat  as 
they  are  now,  the  people  will  need  to  be  scattered  out  so  far 
in  order  to  provide  for  their  best  health  and  the  development 
of  the  children  that  many  will  have  to  travel  long  distances, 
adding  greatly  to  the  total  volume  of  travel. 

But  this  brings  us  to  one  of  the  points  of  doubt  con- 
cerning the  total  volume  of  both  travel  and  transportation.  I 
apprehend  that  there  will  come  a  scattering  out  of  industrial 
institutions  that  will  tend  to  reduce  somewhat  the  volume  of 
travel  and  make  a  great  reduction  in  the  volume  of  freight 
transportation.  It  would  probably  be  impossible  to  even 
approximate  the  extent  to  which  this  will  proceed,  but  as 
sure  as  effect  follows  cause,  the  industries  will  be  greatly  dis- 
tributed. The  cohesive  forces  that  now  cause  all  the  various 
industries  and  businesses  to  huddle  closely  together  will  cease 
and  be  replaced  by  diffusive  forces.  For  several  reasons 
nearly  all  the  manufacturing  industries  are  now  crowded 
together  into  the  great  cities.  Chief  among  these  are,  First, 
the  fact  that  capital  gets  more  labor  corraled  there  making  it 


INDUSTRIAL    ORGANIZATION  129 

cheaper.  Second,  the  advertising  advantage  of  the  most  pub- 
lic places  so  as  to  catch  the  personal  attention  of  the  most 
people,  and  Third,  the  advantage  of  being  where  supplies  and 
repairs  may  be  had  by  personal  purchase  without  the  delay 
of  ordering,  waiting,  paying  an  exorbitant  transportation 
charge,  and  then  the  piece  doesn't  fit  or  is  not  the  thing 
wanted. 

Under  Socialism  the  first  two  of  these  would  melt  entirely 
away,  while  the  last  would  dwindle  into  insignificance.  There 
would  be  no  need  of  the  purchaser  making  personal  inspec- 
tion. In  fact  he  would  not  be  a  purchaser  but  an  employee, 
agent  or  official  of  that  department  of  the  government,  and 
would  simply  order  what  he  needed  of  the  agent  or  official 
at  the  other  end  of  the  line,  who  could  have  no  incentive  for 
"soaking"  him  with  a  bogus  article.  There  would  be  no  delay 
in  important  cases,  the  cost  of  transportation  would  be  little 
more  to  the  government  than  the  work  of  handling,  and  it 
would  fit.  Uncle  Sam's  machinery  would  be  intended  to  fit. 
It  would  not  be  changed  every  little  while  as  machinery  gen- 
erally is  now,  so  that  a  broken  wheel  of  an  otherwise  good 
machine  could  not  be  replaced  except  by  a  whole  new 
machine. 

Yes,  Socialism  would  wipe  out  practically  all  the  cohesive 
forces  that  now  draws  our  population  together  into  great  con- 
gested centers,  and  the  diffusive  forces,  the  necessity  for  more 
room  for  factories,  the  saving  in  distance  travelled  by  work- 
men, and  last  but  not  least,  the  great  necessities  that  will  be 
fully  recognized  then,  but  are  little  considered  now,  the  neces- 
sities of  pure  air  and  wholesome  surroundings  for  the  work- 
men and  their  families,  these  will  gradually  distribute  the 
manufacturing  plants  out  through  the  country,  till  each  great 
industry  has  its  own  village  or  cluster  of  villages  or  widely 
spread  out  little  city  or  town. 

And  so  the  great  city  as  we  know  it  to-day  will  go.  The 
city  with  its  medley  of  rich  and  poor ;  of  palaces  and  hovels ;  of 
luxury  and  want ;  of  churches  with  their  spires  pointing  up  to 
heaven,  and  saloons  and  "red  lights"  with  their  influences  drag- 
ging down  to  hell ;  the  city  with  its  institutions  of  learning 
on  the  one  hand,  and  its  jails  and  police  courts  on  the  other; 
the  city  with  its  fashion,  its  learning,  its  culture,  its  preachers, 
scholars,  scientists,  artists  and  poets  on  the  one  hand,  and  its 
poverty,  squalor,  ignorance  and  rudeness,  and  its  gamblers, 
beggars,  confidence  men,  cutthroats,  bums  and  pickpockets  on 
the  other;  the  city  with  its  big  stock  market  manipulators  at 
the  top,  and  its  tin  horn  gamblers  at  the  bottom  ;  with  its  great 
franchise  grabber  having  commodious  apartments  in  an  upper 
story  (take  the  elevator),  and  its  little  pawn  shop  skinner  oc- 


130  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

cupying  the  show  window  (Bargains!  Bargains!)  next  the 
street;  the  city  with  its  great  store  houses  bursting  with  all 
the  necessaries,  yea,  and  the  luxuries  of  life  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  other  with  its  slums  and  tenement  houses  reeking 
with  filth  and  vice  and  crime  and  poverty  and  misery  and 
degradation ;  the  city  with  its  mixture  of  virtue  and  vice, 
(mostly  vice),  with  its  conglomeration  of  goodness  and 
wickedness,  (mostly  wickedness),  the  great  city  as  we  know 
it  to-day  must  in  due  time  become  a  thing  of  the  past. 

Nor  will  the  diffusive  forces  be  content  with  simply 
spreading  out  into  the  immediately  surrounding  country. 
They  will  do  much  more  than  this;  and  here  comes  in  the 
point  of  reduction  of  freight  transportation. 

Largely  on  account  of  the  cheap  labor,  nearly  all  of  our 
manufacturing  is  done  on  the  east  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  mostly  well  toward  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  Many  articles 
are  shipped  to  the  Western  prairies  and  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains  thousands  of  miles,  and  the  products  of  farm, 
orchard  and  pasture  are  returned,  while  much  of  this  vast 
region  excels  in  climate,  the  cereals,  fruits,  vegetables,  timber, 
fish  and  minerals.  No  doubt  there  will  be  a  considerable 
shifting  of  population  so  that  much  of  the  carrying  back  and 
forth  will  be  saved.  This  would  be  an  immense  saving  when 
we  consider  the  vast  quantities  of  wheat,  corn,  oats,  hay, 
vegetables,  fruit,  beef,  pork,  lumber  etc.,  going  east  and  of 
machinery  and  other  manufactured  articles  going  west.  How- 
ever, the  greater  supplies  of  hard  wood,  iron  ore  and  coal  may 
perhaps,  keep  most  of  the  manufacturing  in  the  East  for  a 
long  time. 

The  increased  use  of  concrete  for  building  materials  will 
probably  also  greatly  economize  transportation,  for  in  most 
cases  rock  is  not  far  to  seek  and  the  buildings  are  much  more 
durable  than  those  of  wood. 

If  electricity  should  displace  coal  and  wood  for  heating 
purposes  it  will  furnish  another  considerable  reduction  in  the 
volume  of  freight  tonnage. 

There  are  numerous  points  of  economy  in  freight  trans- 
portation which  Socialism  will  introduce,  and  among  these 
will  be  a  more  methodical  use  of  cars  so  as  not  to  have  them 
standing  idle  so  much  of  the  time  waiting  to  be  loaded  or 
unloaded  at  starting  point  or  destination,  or  through  delays 
in  transit.  With  the  through  lines  double  tracked  there 
would  be  little  occasion  for  delay.  So,  then,  the  increase  in 
the  volume  of  business  will  not  require  so  great  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  cars,  nor  in  the  number  of  business  buildings. 

But  notwithstanding  the  influences  we  have  mentioned 
that  will  tend  to  greatly  reduce  the  volume  of  freight  trans- 


, 


INDUSTRIAL    ORGANIZATION  131 

portation,  yet  there  are  other  influences  which  it  seems  to  me 
cannot  fail  to  produce  on  the  whole  a  vast  increase  in  the 
volume.  If  Socialism  proves  the  success  we  confidently  expect 
it  to,  the  masses  of  the  people  will  consume  much  more  per 
capita. 

When  we  consider  the  immense  quantities  of  fruit  that 
would  be  consumed  if  all  the  people  had  all  they  wanted,  and 
the  ease  with  which  it  is  produced  in  the  Pacific  States  and 
in  the  South,  we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  that  it  would  do  a 
great  deal  toward  increasing  the  volume  of  our  transpor- 
tation. And  if  our  own  country  is  unable  to  furnish  an  abund- 
ance of  tropical  and  semi-tropical  productions,  our  govern- 
ment could  arrange  a  wholesale  exchange  with  the  nations  on 
our  southern  border,  till  oranges,  figs,  lemons,  dates,  bananas, 
guavas,  pineapples  and  cocoanuts  would  become  as  common 
and  plentiful  in  every  home  as  potatoes. 

But  perhaps  the  greatest  increase  in  the  volume  of  trans- 
portation will  be  in  the  increased  use  of  building  materials. 
As  we  have  already  seen,  the  use  of  concrete,  which  is  more 
durable  and  made  from  materials  that  are,  in  the  majority  of 
cases  nearer  at  hand  than  lumber,  will  tend  to  reduce  the 
volume  of  transportation,  but  its  much  greater  weight  will 
tend  to  increase  it.  Then  if  the  people  are  well  able  to  afford 
it,  they  will  want  a  far  greater  quantity  than  is  used  now, 
and  will  on  an  average  be  much  more  particular  about  the 
quality  than  now.  I  say  this  confidently,  for  I  do  not  believe, 
as  some  seem  to  think,  that  the  making  it  easy  for  all  to  afford 
good  houses  nicely  finished  and  furnished  will  cause  the  people 
to  go  back  to  living  in  caves  and  hollow  trees.  Being  once 
loaded,  it  will  cost  the  government  but  little  more  to  move  a 
train  load  of  rock  one  hundred  miles  than  five  miles,  so  that 
within  reasonable  limits  distance  will  not  usually  cut  so  much 
figure  as  quality. 

Another  use  which  the  government  will  make  of  the 
roads  and  which  is  now  mostly  cut  out  by  excessive  rates,  is 
distributing  feed  to  live  stock,  or  the  stock  to  the  feed.  As 
it  is  now,  a  drought  or  hard  winter  often  make  feed  sa  scarce 
in  some  parts  that  stock  suffer  and  starve,  while  reverse  con- 
ditions together  with  other  influences  makes  a  superabund- 
ance in  other  parts.  Often  a  man  having  a  few  stock  and  no 
money  to  buy  feed  that  is  shipped  in  at  a  high  price,  rather  than 
sell  part  of  his  stock  at  a  sacrifice,  (for  no  one  will  buy  except 
at  a  very  low  figure  so  as  to  make  a  big  profit),  takes  chances 
on  their  starving  till  some  do  starve,  while  one  hundred  or 
one  thousand  miles  away  there  is  feed  and  perhaps  green 
grass  going  to  waste.  This,  of  course,  belongs  with  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  but  I  mention  it  here  to  show  the 


132  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

increased  volume  of  transportation  and  how  much  more  use- 
ful the  railroads  will  be  under  Socialism. 

Water  transportation  will  also  be  organized  and  con- 
ducted as  a  part  of  the  same  general  department. 

Like  the  other  industries  we  have  treated,  at  the  inaugu- 
ration of  Socialism  most  of  the  men  now  employed  in  the 
work  of  transportation  could  remain  in  their  places  till  the 
department  is  thoroughly  organized. 

Since  private  ownership  and  management  of  railways  has 
proven  a  practical  success  for  the  owners  when  fighting  each 
other  and  a  far  greater  success  for  them  when  they 
combine;  since  governments  owned  and  controlled  by  great 
capitalists  have  owned  and  managed  them  so  as  to  make  it 
a  practical  success  for  its  controlling  class,  and  since  govern- 
ments under  the  control  of  the  smaller  capitalist  class  have 
and  are  owning  and  managing  railroads  so  as  to  make  them  a 
success  to  those  in  control,  in  spite  of  the  necessity  of  watch- 
ing like  hawks  to  prevent  some  of  their  own  number  from  get- 
ting an  undue  advantage  over  the  rest  and  sitting  up  nights 
to  keep  the  great  capitalists  from  grafting  at  the  hidden 
places,  why  could  not  all  the  people  constituting"  one  great 
equally  interested  body  of  workers,  with  no  bone  of  con- 
tention, no  temptation  to  dishonesty,  no  incentive  nor  oppor- 
tunity for  graft,  make  it  a  success  for  themselves,  the  whole 
people? 

Distribution.  Mr.  Bellamy's  plan  strikes  me  as  about  as 
nearly  perfect  on  this  point  as  can  be  imagined — the  great 
central  warehouses  for  keeping  goods  of  all  kinds ;  the  sample 
stores  where  the  people  may  go  to  put  in  their  orders ;  making 
their  selections  on  the  information  given  on  the  tag  attached 
to  each  sample  article,  the  tag  being  the  stamp  of  the  govern- 
ment and  giving  all  the  information  that  they  would  care  to 
have,  and  the  clerks  having  no  temptation  whatever  to  mis- 
represent the  goods,  it  making  no  odds  to  them-  whether  one 
takes  them  or  not. 

The  distribution  to  the  people  of  large  and  bulky  articles 
will  be  very  likely  done  by  motor  wagons  or  cars,  while  most 
of  the  distribution  will  be  by  pneumatic  tube  or  closed  elec- 
tric small  railway  lines,  in  either  case,  arranged  so  that  boxes 
may  be  sent  through,  the  man  at 'the  station  despatching, 
switching  and  returning  them  by  the  manipulation  of  electric 
buttons.  A  small  part  of  the  great  army  of  merchants,  shop- 
men, clerks,  etc.,  now  eneaged  in  the  work  of  distribution, 
would  be  sufficient  to  do  that  work  then,  leaving  the  remain- 
der to  reinforce  and  make  easier  for  all,  the  work  in  other 
industries. 

This  closes  the  list  of  all  the  industries  besides  Agricul- 


AGRICULTURE  133 

ture.  In  the  last  of  these  Socialism  will  make  its  best  showing 
in  economy  of  work,  and  nearly  all  the  work  of  the  others  is 
conducted  now  on  a  large  enough  scale  to  require  more  or  less 
of  organization.  Most  of  it  is  under  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  paid  managers.  I  see  no  reason  why  these  should 
not  continue  under  Socialism  doing  the  same  work  with  the 
same  forces  of  men,  excepting  that  there  would  then  be  no 
pressure  from  private  owners  bawling  out  profits !  profits ! 
more  profits !  and  this  would  certainly  be  more  than  offset  by 
doubling  or  tripling  the-  number  of  workers,  unless  human 
nature  turns  out  to  be  far  less  reliable  than  it  has  shown  itself 
in  the  past.  And  besides  this  there  is  the  further  economy 
of  new  and  larger  machinery  and  larger  scale  and  more  scien- 
tific methods. 

As  to  reliability,  the  experience  of  all  ages  since  the  dawn 
of  history,  has  shown  that  men  with  common  aims  and 
under  the  pressure  of  a  great  necessity,  can  be  relied  upon  to 
stand  shoulder  to  shoulder,  inspired  by  the  thought  that  all 
depends  on  each  doing  his  part,  and  that  being  so  inspired 
they  have,  where  necessary,  put  forth  herculean  efforts  and 
have  accomplished  wonders. 

Socialism  would  present  such  a  unity  of  aim  backed  by  a 
common  necessity,  the  greatest  and  most  pressing  imaginable, 
that  of  sustaining  the  lives  of  a  great  nation.  Nor  is  thic  all. 
Experience  has  also  shown  that  the  more  enlightened,  the 
more  reliable  they  are.  Then  with  all  the  economies  that 
Socialism  will  furnish,  tripling  our  working  force,  multiply- 
ing machinery  and  introducing  system  and  science,  we  are 
forced  to  one  of  two  conclusions ;  either  that  Socialism  will 
be  successful,  or  that  civilization  is  moving  backward  and 
that  mankind  is  becoming  less  enlightened. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
AGRICULTURE. 

9 

For  convenience  we  include  under  this  head  the  culti- 
vation and  management  of  the  garden,  orchard  and  pasture, 
as  well  as  of  the  field  . 

This  is  regarded  as  the  great  stronghold  of  the  objector 
to  Socialism.  However  you  may  be  able  to  round  him  up  on 
any  or  all  other  points,  he  often  closes  the  argument  by  a 
sudden,  sweeping  side  stroke,  saying,  "Oh,  well,  Socialism  is 
impracticable ;  for  it  can  never  be  successfully  applied  to  agri- 
culture." Even  so  learned  a  scholar  as  Professor  Ely  who 
wrote  much  that  favored  Socialism,  said  that  no  feasible 


i34  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

method  had  yet  been  suggested  for  socializing  agriculture,  and 
stated  that  reports  of  "Bonanza  farming"  seemed  to  be  ad- 
verse. (But  Ely  wrote  this  twelve  or  fifteen  years  ago.) 

To  all  objectors  I  throw  down  the  gauntlet  here  and 
now;  for  I  claim  this  as  my  stronghold.  I  am  a  farmer 
myself;  and  while  I  do  not  pretend  to  know  all  nor  even  much 
about  farming,  yet  I  have  studied  at  close  range  for  many 
years  the  subject  of  Socialism  as  related  to  agriculture. 
While  my  information  on  other  topics  is  nearly  all  second 
hand,  and  mostly  by  reading,  on  this,  it  is  first  hand,  by  actual 
observation,  or  at  least,  acquired  by  being  on  the  ground. 

And  while  I  have  not  come  in  contact  with  the  biggest 
"Bonanza  farming,"  yet  I  have  lived  in  a  county  whose  county 
seat  claims  to  be  the  greatest  primary  wheat  receiving  station 
in  the  world,  and  where  several  sections  (square  miles)  of 
land  under  one  management  is  quite  common,  the  number  of 
sections,  I  think,  in  some  cases  reaching  eight  or  ten.  This  I 
suppose  would  be  regarded  in  the  East  as  "Bonanza  farming," 
although  we  hardly  think  of  it  as  such  out  here.  I  have  also 
had  good  opportunity  to  observe  stock  raising,  both  on  range 
and  pasture. 

In  order  to  get  a  thorough  understanding  of  this  subject 
we  must  examine  its  several  phases  separately. 

i.  Inclination  of  the  Farmer.  In  the  past,  the  farmer, 
by  reason  of  his  environment,  has  usually  had  a  strong  prefer- 
ence for  working  to  himself,  but  a  great  change  in  his  environ- 
ment is  producing  a  rapid  change  in  his  disposition.  Formerly, 
with  his  simple  tools,  each  farmer  usually  worked  alone  or  a 
very  small  number  of  the  same  family  worked  together  with 
occasionally  one  or  two  hired  men.  The  tools  were  so  simple 
that  there  was  little  or  no  advantage  in  working  in  groups. 

Now,  all  is  changed.  To  use  the  new  machinery  so  as  to 
derive  the  greatest  benefit  requires  men  in  groups  and  often 
of  considerable  numbers.  He  must  use  the  new  appliances  or 
fall  behind  in  the  race,  and  this  necessity  is  educating  him  out 
of  his  old  inclination  to  work  alone.  If  this  had  continued  to 
any  considerable  extent,  it  would  have  been  some  impediment 
to  the  introduction  of  Socialism.  Now,  this  would  not  be 
much  of  an  obstacle,  and  by  the  time  the  great  body  of  the  . 
people  in  other  industries  are  ready  for  Socialism,  it  will  have 
vanished  nearly  altogether,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  farmer  will  be 
found  marching  in  the  army  of  progress. 

There  may  be  some  exceptions  'among  the  small  farmers 
but  whatever  difficulties  may  be  threatened  by  these,  as  we 
have  already  explained,  will  probably  be  cured  by  a  little 
delay  in  getting  ready  to  apply  scientific  and  large  scale 
methods,  during  which,  by  an  arrangement  with  the  adminis- 


AGRICULTURE  135 

tration,  the  small  farmers  may  go  on  somewhat  in  the  old 
way,  the  former  allowing  them  for  their  products  what  seems 
to  be  just,  which  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  will  be  much 
better  for  them  than  as  it  is  now,  being  compelled  to  take  the 
price  offered  by  the  trust  who  has  the  market  cornered;  then, 
by  the  time  the  government  is  ready  to  take  over  the  small 
farms,  they  will  doubtless  be  very  willing  to  exchange  their 
farms  for  the  better  paying  positions  in  the  public  service. 

2.  Individualistic  Methods.  I  have  no  doubt  that  a 
Socialist  government  will  introduce  large  scale  methods  in 
agriculture  and  stock  husbandry,  such  as  has  scarcely  been 
dreamed  of ;  but  if  it  should  not,  what  is  "there  to  hinder  the 
farming  being  continued  somewhat  as  it  is  now,  each  farmer 
being  paid  as  above  mentioned  and  being  held  accountable  for 
results,  which  are  expected  to  be  proportional  to  his  re- 
sources? 

I  have  no  doubt  that  some  will  put  in  the  objection  that 
this  would  necessitate  such  a  large  corps  of  inspectors.  Yes, 
this  is  a  very  strong  reason  for  governmental  management 
and  the  application  of  large  scale  methods,  but  not  much  of 
an  argument  against  Socialism,  when  we  consider  the  trust 
manipulation  by  which  the  farmer  is  now  exploited.  Many 
times  better  would  it  be  to  employ  even  one-half  as  inspectors 
while  the  other  half  worked  and  make  a  fair  division  of  pro- 
duct, than  have  two-thirds  idle  or  doing  unnecessary  work, 
as  it  is  now,  part  of  the  idlers  taking  the  lion's  share,  and,  in 
many  cases,  leaving  little  more  than  a  mere  dog's  living  for 
the  worker. 

Whether  Socialism  conducts  the  work  of  agriculture  on 
a  small  scale  or  a  large  scale,  the  same  regulations  that  govern 
the  selection  of  employment  in  other  indus'-ies  may  easily 
be  applied  to  this. 

In  the  minds  of  many  people  the  whole  question  of 
Socialism  turns  on  its  practicability;  its  practicability  turns 
on  the  practicability  of  Socialistic  farming,  and  this  last 
depends  on  the  practicability  of  conducting  Socialistic  farm- 
ing on  a  'arge  scale;  but  this  is  all  a  mistake.  As  we  have 
seen,  it  does  not  so  depend.  It  could  be  arranged  for  each 
farmer  who  desires,  to  keep  wnat  land  he  can  work,  the  gov- 
ernment paying  him  what  its  judges  consider  just,  with  a  very 
little  or  no  governmental  inspection.  Almost  any  arrange- 
ment at  all  Socialistic,  would  be  better  than  the  wholesale 
robbery  an  J  exploitation,  by  which  the  trust  corporations  now 
get  his  raw  product  with  so  little  return. 

Thus  it  becomes  clear  that  Socialistic  management  of 
farming  with  small  scale  methods  would  be  far  more  prefer- 


136  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

able,  far  more  practicable  as  a  means  of  providing  for  the  gen- 
eral welfare,  than  farming  under  our  present  system. 

This  settles  the  question  as  to  the  practicability  of  the 
Socialistic  management  of  farming,  and  with  it  the  prac- 
ticability of  Socialism,  for  we  have  already  found  the  immense 
advantages  of  Socialistic  management  in  other  industries. 

Large  Scale  Methods.  Thus  the  objector  is  ousted  from 
his  supposed  great  stronghold.  He  makes  a  great  mistake  in 
supposing  Socialistic  management  of  farming  on  a  small  scale 
impracticable,  but  in  my  opinion  he  makes  a  far  greater  mis- 
take in  supposing  Socialistic  management  of  farming  on  a 
large  scale  impracticable;  for  I  feel  confident  that  Socialism, 
by  introducing  system,  science  and  large  scale  methods,  will 
bring  about  a  greater  economy  in  farming  than  in  any  other 
industry  except  distribution. 

We  have  already  shown  some  of  the  changes  that  are 
going  on  in  the  farmer's  inclinations  and  desires.  He  has 
been  brought  into  closer  touch  with  the  world  and  has  come 
to  desire  better  social  and  educational  opportunities.  For  this 
reason  when  Socialism  is  introduced,  most  farmers,  however 
well  they  may  like  their  work,  will  be  very  glad  to  exchange 
the  old  for  the  new  economizing  methods  that  will  furnish 
leisure  for  self-improvement,  and  will  give  a  hearty  welcome 
to  the  village  life  having  all  the  advantages  of  the  cities  and 
small  towns,  without  the  evils  of  the  present  ones. 

Even  now  many  farmers  consider  it  worth  while  and 
count  themselves  fortunate  if  they  are  able  to  move  to  town 
by  the  time  their  oldest  children  are  ready  for  high  school, 
and  will  pinch  and  figure  almost  any  way  possible  in  order 
that  their  children  may  acquire  a  liberal  education.  This 
applies  especially  to  the  West  with  its  great  stock  ranches 
and  wheat  farms. 

"Bonanza  Farming."  To  illustrate  big  wheat  farming  in 
what  is  called  the  "dry  belt"  of  the  Great  Columbia  basin,  I 
relate  here  a  few  things  that  met  my  observation  one  day  as 
I  visited  the  farms  of  Mr.  B.  F.  Berry,  one  of  my  neighbors. 

At  the  home  place  a  young  man  was  "batching"  and 
doing  the  chores  and  odd  jobs,  while  at  another  place  three 
miles  away  was  the  working  "force"  or  "crew,"  consisting  of 
seven  men,  one  woman  and  a  little  over  forty  horses  and 
mules.  Five  of  the  men  with  as  many  eight  mule  teams  were 
plowing  with  "three  bottom  gang"  plows,  that  is,  each  gang 
plow  has  three -fourteen  inch  plows.  The  house  where  they 
were  camped  was  but  a  small  box  house,  or  "shack,"  while 
the  teams  were  sheltered  by  a  large  tent  stable  that  could  be 
easily  moved  to  the  next  place.  Asking  Mr.  B.  how  much 
more  he  had  to  plow,  he  replied  confidently  that  it  would  take 


AGRICULTURE  137 

them  just  so  many  days,  as  there  was  still  so  many  acres  to 
plow,  and  they  were  plowing  thirty-five  acres  per  day.  You 
will  begin  to  realize  how  these  farmers  manage  to  work  up  to 
their  calculations  when  I  mention  that  the  other  two  men 
with  a  team  were  doing  some  work  near  by  that  could  be 
dropped  at  any  time,  so  that  if  a  plowman  quit  or  got  sick, 
the  work  went  right  on,  and  if  a  plow  was  broken  there  were 
several  two  plow  gangs  setting  around  all  sharpened  and 
ready.  Besides,  there  were  always  harrows  to  hitch  to  in 
such  cases.  A  small  boy  out  here  knows  that  big  farming 
pays  best. 

Some  of  the  larger  farms  still  use  headers,  but  the  com- 
bined header  and  thresher  is  rapidly  coming  into  general  use. 
One  man  who  has  level  ground  told  me  last  year  that  with  an 
eighteen  foot  combine  operated  by  five  men  and  thirty-two 
horses,  he  usually  heads  and  threshes  a  half  section  (320 
acres)  in  about  eight  days.  But  there  are  new  inventions 
already  in  the  field  and  now  undergoing  improvements,  by 
which  it  is  expected  that  the  same  work  will  be  accomplished 
with  less  than  half,  and  possibly  not  over  a  third  of  the  horse 
power. 

I  know  of  one  firm  that  uses  a  traction  engine  for  both 
plowing  and  harvesting.  They  find  the  exorbitant  price  of 
coal  and  the  delay  in  getting  repairs  from  Spokane  or  Port- 
land to  be  the  chief  drawbacks,  but  these  difficulties  would  be 
greatly  alleviated  under  Socialism.  I  mention  a  "firm."  Yes, 
we  already  have  firms,  and  occasionally  corporations  engaged 
in  farming.  In  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  is  now  very  difficult 
for  the  farmers,  especially  the  small  ones,  to  unite  very  suc- 
cessfully, but  it  looks  very  much  as  though  the  time  is  not 
far  off  when  at  least  the  great  wheat  farming  will  be  owned 
and  conducted  by  the  great  trusts  that  will  double  up  the 
price  of  bread  as  they  now  double  up  the  price  of  lumber  and 
fuel. 

Electricity  and  Future  Machinery.  It  has  been  said  that 
we  are  just  entering  the  electric  age.  Judging  by  what  has 
already  been  demonstrated  in  this  line,  it  seems  to  me  no  more 
than  reasonable  to  expect  that  electricity  will  become  the 
chief  power  used  in  farming.  I  see  no  reason  why  there  may 
not  come  into  use  great  harvesting  machines  run  by  electri- 
city, by  which  wheat  and  other  grain  will  be  headed  and 
threshed  and  moved  in  motor  wagons  without  sacks  to  the 
nearest  stations.  If  desired  the  straw  could  be  baled  at  the 
same  time  and  mov^d  in  the  same  way.  Light  electric  rail- 
way lines  all  through  the  country  and  macadamized  wagon 
roads  would  greatly  facilitate  this  work. 

Science.     Agriculture  has   heretofore  generally  been  re- 


138  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

garded  as  a  branch  of  industry  in  which  science  has  little 
place.  "Science  may  be  all  right  in  other  branches  of  indus- 
try, but  book  farming  is  no  good,"  is  the  verdict  of  the  old 
timer.  Possibly  this  verdict  may  have  been  justified  by  the 
failure  of  some  "book  farming"  experiments  in  which  the 
adage  "A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing"  would  be  ap- 
plicable. 

But  "book  farming"  has  passed  the  experimental  stage, 
and,  in  the  light  of  recent  investigations  it  is  becoming  more 
and  more  evident  that  science  will,  in  the  future,  bring  greater 
improvements  in  this  than  in  any  other  branch  of  industry. 
Read  the  accounts  of  experiments  of  such  men  as  Burbank 
and  doubt  this  who  will.  Our  present  system  does  not  give 
much  encouragement  to  it,  but  under  Socialism  science  will 
have  full  sway.  And  this  is  a  strong  reason,  not  only  for 
Socialism  but  for  the  entire  wiping  out  of  private  manage- 
ment, for  in  no  other  way  can  science  be  made  to  do  its  full 
work  as  by  a  consolidation  of  all  under  one  management. 

Socialism  will  apply  science  systematically  at  every  step 
of  agricultural  and  horticultural  production,  as  well  as  in 
stock  husbandry — science  in  soil  analysis,  in  fertilizing,  in 
preparing  the  soil  by  plowing,  sub-soiling,  harrowing,  &c. ; 
science  in  determining  the  adaptation  of  various  soils  to  vari- 
ous crops;  science  in  the  selection  of  seeds,  in  planting  and  in 
cultivating;  science  in  destroying  pests  of  all  kinds,  animal, 
vegetable  and  insect;  science  in  harvesting,  moving  crops  and 
in  preserving  feed  for  stock,  and  science  in  breeding  and  feed- 
ing stock  and  in  treating  their  diseases. 

It  seems  to  me  well  nigh  impossible  that  any  fair-minded 
intelligent  person  should  consider  carefully  the  importance  of 
applying  science  in  all  these,  the  great  difficulty  amounting 
almost  to  impossibility  of  their  successful  application  under 
our  present  individualistic  system,  and  the  evident  ease  with 
which  they  could  be  systematically  applied  under  Socialism, 
and  pronounce  Socialism  impracticable  because  of  the  imprac- 
ticability of  Socialistic  farming. 

The  consideration  of  any  of  the  items  enumerated  would 
furnish  a  good  argument  for  Socialism,  and  some  of  them  very 
strong  ones,  as  for  instance,  Socialism  would  destroy  weed  pests 
by  summer  fallowing  a  whole  county  or  more  in  one  body,  so 
that  the  seeds  grown  in  wheat  or  other  small  grain  could  not 
blow  over  on  an  adjoining  field  of  summer  fallowed  land. 

The  fact  is  that  satisfactory  results  require  a  specialist  in 
each  of  these  items,  which  under  our  present  system  practi- 
cally cuts  science  out  of  the  question. 

Individualistic  Waste  and  Socialistic  Savings.  These 
occur  in  many  ways,  of  which  we  mention  the  following: 


AGRICULTURE  139 

1.  .Where  for  lack  of  means  small  farmers  now  often 
fail  to  carry  forward  work  which  they  attempt.   This  occasions 
a  great  waste  every  year. 

2.  Loss  of  time  in  hunting  for  hired  help,  while  laborers 
are  elsewhere  wasting  time  hunting  for  work,  and  sometimes 
a  great  waste  by  reason  of  failure  to  find  help. 

3.  Loss  of  time  in  buying,  selling  and  trading.     Think 
of  the  time  that  is  wasted  by  most  farmers  in  this  way  and  of 
the  property  that  goes  to-  waste  because  the  owner  doesn't 
know  where  to  find  a  purchaser. 

4.  Loss  of  time  in  individual  stock  hunting.    Now,  those 
who  turn  stock  into  the  mountains  may  have  to  spend  weeks 
and   even   months   in   the   fall,  hunting   among  all   the  little 
ranches    around   the   mountains;    under    Socialism   the   stock 
would  all  be  partnership  property,  would  all  belong  to  Uncle 
Sam,  and  would  be  at  home  wherever  found. 

5.  Loss  of  time  in  fencing.     Socialism  would  save  most 
of   the   fencing   that   is   necessary   under   our   present   order. 
There   would   be   little   required   excepting   between   farming 
and  grazing  lands,  and  generally  small  patches  of  the  latter 
could  be  grazed  at  times  when  there  is  no  growing  crop  on 
the  former. 

In  all  these,  and  especially  the  last,  Socialism  would  be 
far  more  practicable,  in  that  it  would  save  what  is  now 
wasted.  The  farmer  is  the  worst  overworked  and  the  worst 
exploited  of  all  the  workers,  and  I  see  no  reason  why,  after 
Socialism  is  a  little  under  way,  it  may  not  be  arranged  for 
farmers  to  work  like  those  in  other  industries,  in  forenoon  and 
afternoon  shifts,  the  time  gradually  shortening  till,  as  Miss 
Willard  said,  it  is  orily  "enough  to  give  each  a  good  physical 
development." 

Just  how  rapidly  this  will  come,  however,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  say,  for  the  many  changes  that  Socialism  will 
call  for  will  require  a  considerable  amount  of  work,  and  there 
is  no  knowing  now  whether  the  people  will  adopt  the  policy 
of  pushing  the  work  with  vigor  or  proceeding  more  leisurely, 
awaiting  somewhat  the  developments  of  science  and  better 
machinery. 

I  believe  we  have  now  presented  enough  to  convince  any 
fair  minded  and  reasonable  person  that  capitalism  has  become 
utterly  impracticable  and  unfit,  while  so  far  as  reason  goes, 
Socialism  is  exactly  adapted  as  a  means  for  promoting  the 
general  welfare.  Just  how  much  inspection  and  overseeing  of 
work  may  be  required  under  Socialism  it  would  be  impossible 
now  to  say,  but  it  seems  to  me  perfectly  reasonable  to  expect 
that  where  the  people  are  placed  upon  so  high  a  plane  of  honor 
as  it  is  clear  they  will  be  under  Socialism,  they  will  not  require 


140  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

much.  If,  however,  much  more  inspection  and  oversight 
should  be  necessary  than  we  Socialists  now  expect,  then  much 
more  will  be  given.  Let  us  not  forget  that  society  is  in  a  pit, 
and  the  only  way  out  is  by  the  way  of  Socialism,  and  let 
us  be  thankful  that  this  way  is  so  plain  and  smooth  and  easy 
of  ascent. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
PHYSICAL  CULTURE  UNDER  SOCIALISM. 

The  city  and  the  country  present  two  extremes,  the  one 
of  congestion,  the  other  of  isolation,  and  neither  is  calculated 
to  promote  man's  highest  development.  True,  the  vices  that 
infest  our  congested  populations  are  the  direct  result  of  our 
present  system  rather  than  of  the  congestion  itself.  Even  if 
the  city  populations  should  remain  somewhat  as  they  are  the 
vices  and  crimes  of  our  cities  would  not  continue  under  Social- 
ism, but  there  are  other  reasons  why  populations  should 
neither  be  highly  concentrated  nor  widely  scattered,  and  these 
will  now  be  considered  among  other  things,  under  the  follow- 
ing topics. 

i.  Physical  Development  and  Health.  With  all  the 
sanitary  measures  that  Socialism  could  and  would  adopt  and 
apply,  there  would  still  be  more  disease  and  a  poorer  oppor- 
tunity for  physical  development  of  youth  in  a  highly  con- 
centrated than  in  a  diffused  population.  The  greater  liability 
of  crowded  populations  to  epidemics  and  contagions  is  too 
well  known  to  require  more  than  a  mention,  and,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  since  the  means  of  travel  and  communication 
could  be  so  easily  afforded,  and  the  reason  for  great  concentra- 
tion would  cease,  there  is  scarcely  room  for  doubt  that  under 
Socialism  our  city  populations  will  become  greatly  diffused, 
much  to  the  promotion  of  physical  health  and  development. 

Medical  Practice  Under  Socialism.  It  goes  without  say- 
ing that  medical  practice  as  now  conducted  is  very  unsatis- 
factory. With  most  of  the  people  densely  ignorant  of  the 
subject  of  health,  excepting  with  reference  to  its  most  ele- 
mentary principles,  and  this  in  many  cases  with  those  who  are 
otherwise  well  informed,  the  people  depend  for  health  mainly 
on  the  observance  of  those  simple  rules  and  principles 
they  know.  (And  of  these  nearly  all  are  more  or  less,  and 
many  are  very  reckless.)  And  when  a  disease  fastens  upon 
them  that  they  are  unable  to  throw  off,  wear  out  or  break  up 
with  some  simple  remedy,  as  a  last  resort  they  send  for  a 
physician  of  some  one  of  the  many  conflicting  schools,  each 


PHYSICAL   CULTURE    UNDER   SOCIALISM    141 

more  or  less  prejudiced  against  the  practice  of  the  others, 
and  having  a  selfish  personal  interest  to  conserve. 

Of  the  present  evils  of  medical  practice  which  would  be 
cured  by  Socialism  we  mention  the  following: 

I.  Prejudice  against  and  opposition  to  other  schools. 
From  the  standpoint  of  an  onlooker  we  take  the  following 
view.  The  student  at  the  very  outset  of  his  career  begins 
to  drink  in  this  prejudice.  He  comes  under  the  influence  of 
those  who  have  imbibed  it  before  him,  and  whose  principal 
interests  continue  to  foster  it  in  themselves,  and  when  he 
comes  into  actual  practice  his  own  financial  interest  continues 
the  process  in  him.  Every  admission  of  merit  in  any  other 
system  is  but  helping  to  -tie  his-  feet  in  %the  race ;  for,  when 
called  to  treat  a  case,  if  he  should  happen  to  know,  which 
generally  he  would  not,  that  some  other  method  of  practice 
would  be  better  in  that  particular  case,  and  should  so  advise 
his  patient,  it  would  tend  to  turn  the  people  toward  the  other 
method;  this  would  occasion  the  displeasure  of  other  physi- 
cians of  his  own  school,  and  altogether  the  tendency  would  be 
to  brand  him  with  incompetence. 

2.  Usually  the  physician  dares  not  tell  a  patient  he  does 
not  need  medicine.    If  he  should,  and  should  give  him  instruc- 
tions about  resting,  eating,  bathing,  ventilation,  exercising  in 
the  open  air  and  a  trip  to  the  mountains,  in  probably  four 
cases  out  of  five,  possibly  nine  out  of  ten,  the  patient  would 
send  next  day  for  another  doctor,  insisting  that  he  must  have 
medicine. 

3.  Generally  speaking,  the  physician  dares  not  confess 
ignorance.     A  lawyer  may  admit  the  necessity  of  reading  up 
on  a  particular  point  and  nothing  is  thought  of  it,  but  the 
physician    endangers    his    practice   who   does    much   of   this, 
unless  it  be  in  cases  that  are  regarded  as  somewhat  out  of 
his  line.     The  young  physician  especially,  when  perplexed  in 
diagnosing  a  case,  hesitates  before  calling  counsel  in  fear  of 
bringing  disaster  to   his  practice,  censure   upon  himself  for 
incurring  an  unnecessary  expense  upon  his  patient  and  the 
derision  of  the  community.     Even  in  bad  cases  the  doctor 
who  always  calls  in  counsel  is  apt  to  make  the  impression 
that  he  is  only  third  or  fourth  rate. 

All  these  evils  work  hardship  on  the  people,  and  their 
knowledge  of  them  tends  to  produce  distrust  of  the  medical 
profession.  But  there  is  another  evil  of  still  greater  import, 
which  is  partly  the  direct  result  of  those  we  have  mentioned. 

4.  Gross  dishonesty  and  the  fear  of  it.     Physicians  are 
made  of  the  same  clay  as  other  people,  and  all  thinking  persons 
who  have  any  considerable  experience  with  humanity  know 
that  some,  yes,  many,  are  grossly  dishonest.    Much  as  we  may 


142  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

prefer  to  think  otherwise,  our  experience  with  the  world 
forces  us  to  this  conclusion. 

When  loved  ones  are  sick,  perhaps  in  a  strange  .place,  or 
at  least  where  there  is  no  physician  with  whom  we  are 
acquainted  and  in  whom  we  have  confidence,  something  must 
be  done.  Yet  the  mind  is  filled  with  doubts  and  fears  and 
misgivings.  And,  oh,  how  much  one  would  give  to  know  that 
the  man  he  employs  is  honest.  How  disastrous  to  himself 
and  his  it  might  be  if  he  is  not.  He  may  understand  well  the 
influences  and  temptations  that  beset  the  physician.  He  may 
be  a  Socialist  and  inclined  to  a  charitable  view,  to  excuse  him 
somewhat  for  whatever  shortcomings  he  may  have,  knowing 
that  his  environment  is  such  that  he  must  have  been  almost 
more  than  human  to  have  been  otherwise,  but  all  this  only 
increases  his  fears. 

And  what  would  Socialism  do?  Socialism  would  provide 
boards  of  physicians  who  would  be  health  conservators  as 
well.  Prevention  of  disease  would  receive  as  much,  or  per- 
haps more.,  attention  than  remedies. 

It  will  then  be  to  the  interest  of  the  physician  to  keep 
the  people  well,  instead  of,  as  now,  depending  entirely  on 
their  sicknesses.  All  the  people,  physicians  included,  will  be 
equally  interested  in  any  and  all  methods  of  preserving  health 
and  in  all  remedies  for  disease,  without  regard  to  the  system 
of  treatment  to  which  it  belongs.  The  only  question  will  be 
as  to  whether  it  is  successful  or  not. 

It  will  be  to  the  physician's  interest  to  tell  the  truth 
straight  out.  If  you  don't  need  medicine  he  will  tell  you  so, 
and  if  you  are  not  satisfied  you  may  appeal  to  higher 
authority. 

In  diagnosing  a  case  if  the  doctor  is  at  all  doubtful,  he 
will  consult  over  the  phone,  and,  if  necessary,  as  in  serious 
cases,  the  best  medical  skill  will  be  called,  and  the  physicians 
themselves  would  have  no  selfish  interest  in  trying  to  deceive 
the  people  as  to  who  is  most  skillful.  At  this  point,  as  at  all 
other  points,  to  use  the  words  of  Frances  Willard,  Socialism 
will  "eliminate  the  motives  for  a  selfish  life." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SOCIAL    AND    INTELLECTUAL    CULTURE    UNDER 

SOCIALISM. 

Man  is.  a  social  being.  In  order  that  one  may  attain  to 
the  highest  happiness  in  life,  and  the  highest  usefulness  in  pro- 
moting the  happiness  of  others,  he  must  come  in  contact  with 
the  great  pulsing,  throbbing  world,  till  his  own  pulse  beats  in 


SOCIAL    AND    INTELLECTUAL    CULTURE     143 

unison,  till  his  heart  is  filled  with  brotherly  sympathy  that 
finds  expression  in  service.  Here  our  present  isolated  farm 
life  falls  short.  It  is  true  that  the  farmer  is  not  excelled  by 
any  in  neighborly  kindness  and  a  hearty  good  will  for  those 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact ;  none  are  readier  to  help  the 
poor,  the  needy  and  the  suffering  of  his  neighborhood;  but, 
as  a  rule,  the  farmer  takes  little  interest  in  the  outside  world. 
He  is  coming  to  be  better  educated  and  better  read,  but  he 
needs  to  be  brought  more  into  personal  contact  and  fraternal 
fellowship  with  the  great  world  about  him  till  he  realizes  that 
there  is  such  a  world  and  that  he  is  a  part  of  it.  And  this 
Socialism  will  do  for  him,  as 'we  have  already  shown. 

But  the  city  life  as  we  find  it  now  is  far  more  defective. 
With  each  engaged  in  an  intense  struggle  for  his  own  exist- 
ence and  familiar  with  daily  scenes  of  suffering  and  want 
which  he  is  powerless  to  relieve  without  great  danger  of  fall- 
ing into  the  same  straits,  the  process  is  a  hardening  one,  and 
humanity  comes  to  seem  cheap. 

With  the  population  still  concentrated,  Socialism  would 
clean  up  the  physical  and  moral  filth,  relieve  suffering  and 
obviate  the  cheapness,  but  in  the  matter  of  educating  the 
youth  there  would  still  be  a  drawback.  Even  under  Social- 
ism, the  renovated  city  would  not  be  so  well  suited  to  youth- 
ful development  as  the  pleasant  village  away  out  along  the 
line. 

The  city  with  all  its  multitudinous  objects  and  feverish 
excitements  is  disastrous  to  the  child  mind,  which  requires 
quietude  and  familiarity  with  no  more  objects  than  it  can 
learn  thoroughly ;  many  a  bud  has  been  blighted,  and  many  a 
precious  young  mind  dwarfed  by  unfolding  in  an  environment 
that  furnishes  a  flurry  of  excitement. 

With  all  the  facilities  for  education  and  culture  possessed 
by  the  cities  and  larger  towns,  it  is  well  known  that  a  very 
large  per  cent  of  our  most  distinguished  men  and  women 
come  from  the  country.  On  the  other  hand,  while  it  has  bee.i 
pretty  clearly  showri  that  the  country  is  better  for  beginning 
an  education,  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  many  have  been 
clogged  and  kept  from  rising  by  not  having  acquired  that 
polish  which  comes  by  mingling  much  in  refined  society  at 
the  proper  age.  It  is  only  in  youth  that  habits  are  formed 
easily  and  well,  and  he  who  would  acquire  that  ease,  self- 
possession  and  refinement  of  manner  that  does  so  much  in 
promoting  one's  happiness  and  in  making  him  effective  in 
doing  good  to  others,  must  acquire  it  while  young  or  not  at 
all.  The  author  knows  whereof  he  speaks,  for  he  has  learned 
this  by  personal  experience  and  to  his  sorrow. 

As    already    shown,    Socialism    will    bring    these    two 


144  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

extremes  together  in  a  happy  mean  that  will  combine  the 
advantages  and  eliminate  the  evils  of  both. 

Under  our  present  system  most  of  those  who  acquire  a 
liberal  education  stop  in  their  advancement  on  general  lines 
and  turn  their  attention  to  specialties,  so  that,  so  far  as  general 
culture  and  education  is  concerned,  very  little  further  pro- 
gress is  ever  made,  and  in  many  cases  retrogression  expresses 
it  better.  But  under  Socialism  it  will  be  different.  Taking 
a  specialty  will  not  then  mean  that  one  must  push  that 
specialty  as  many  hours  a  day  as  he  can  stand  all  the  rest 
of  his  life,  in  order  that  he  may  have  as  big  a  pile  of  wealth 
as  possible  when  he  dies,  or,  what  is  more  likely,  that  he  may 
be  able  to  get  a  decent  living  for  himself  and  his  family.  It 
will  not  mean  such  a  one-sided  development,  but  it  will  mean 
an  abundance  of  leisure,  or  rather  time  for  other  things 
besides  the  struggle  for  existence.  The  graduating  thesis  will 
not  so  often  represent  the  acme  of  one's  literary  attainments, 
and  the  graduating  class  will  not  have  to  heave  a  sigh  of  re- 
gret, for  they  may  continue  right  on  through  life  gathering  the 
glittering  gems  along  the  sea  shore  of  the  great  unexplored 
ocean  of  truth. 

The  ideal  is  often  held  up  before  the  student  that  gradu- 
ation is  but  the  beginning  of  an  education.  A  very  good  ideal 
but  of  little  worth  at  present,  because  it  is  generally  so  im- 
possible of  application,  but  Socialism  will  provide  for  its  full 
realization. 

But  here  we  are  confronted  with  the  question:  What  is 
your  reason  for  thinking  that  the  masses  will  use  their 
leisure  for  their  own  betterment,  and  that  they  will  adopt  the 
higher  ideals?  Why  may  not  the  tendency  be  to  use  the 
leisure  in  idleness  and  vice?  To  these  we  reply  that  civiliza- 
tion moves  forward,  not  backward.  Under  normal  conditions, 
and  with  proper  encouragement,  man  is  active  rather  than 
inert  and  chooses  good  rather  than  evil. 

In  all  great  movements  of  society,  or  in  all  great  dis- 
coveries or  sayings  01  doings  of  men  by  which  society  has 
been  greatly  attracted,  excited  or  stirred  to  action,  such  ex- 
citement acts  as  a  stimulus  that  awakens  the  minds  of  the 
people,  and  results  in  greater  progress  in  learning  and  the  arts 
generally,  with  a  special  impetus  in  the  direction  of  the  excite- 
ment or  line  of  action. 

For  example:  The  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  civilized  world.  Among  all 
European  nations  the  public  mind  was  awakened.  The  result 
was  a  generally  increased  activity  in  the  line  of  the  excitement 

in  voyage  and  discovery,  colonization  and  commerce,  and 

a  general  increase  of  geographical  knowledge  together  with  a 


SOCIAL   AND    INTELLECTUAL   CULTURE     145 

greatly  increased  dissemination  of  it  among  the  people.  But 
the  activity  of  mind  did  not  stop  with  these  things.  The 
mind,  once  roused,  became  active  along  other  lines  as  well. 

When  Martin  Luther  nailed  his  famous  Theses  to  the  door 
of  the  church  at  Wittenberg  he  challenged  the  attention  of 
the  religious  world.  The  popular  mind  took  part.  The 
immediate  effect  was  a  great  religious  awakening  and  break- 
away from  time-worn  fetters,  and  this  acted  as  a  stimulus  to 
all  branches  of  learning  among  the  common  people. 

The  American  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  "government  of  the  people,  for  the  people  and 
by  the  people,"  challenged  the  attention  of  all  nations.  The 
ideals  of  civil  liberty  and  the  political  rights  of  man  began 
to  be  held  up  before  the  people  of  all  nations.  For  a  century 
and  a  quarter  they  have  been  the  object  of  careful  study, 
resulting  in  their  adoption  to  such  an  extent  that  all  the 
nations  of  Christendom  have  been  compelled  to  yield  more 
or  less  to  the  popular  clamor  for  more  liberty.  Even  the 
despotic,  bureaucratic  government  of  Russia  is  feeling  the 
pressure  and  is  now  yielding,  but  so  grudgingly,  slowly  and 
sparingly  that  the  spectacle  of  another  nation  drenched  in 
blood  seems  about  to  be  realized. 

In  this  educational  process  the  people  have  come  to  love 
liberty  and  have  formed  a  determination  to  have  it.  They 
are  not  satisfied  with  anything  short  of  freedom  or  what 
appears  to  be  freedom.  And  thus  we  see  what  great  results 
came  of  the  action  of  a  few  backwoodsmen  in  the  far  away 
American  wilderness. 

But  this  was  not  all.  As  the  human  mind  was  set  free 
from  the  shackles  of  political  bondage  it  became  active  along 
other  lines,  and  science,  invention,  literature  and  art 
flourished. 

And  when  Mrs.  Stowe's  story  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  was 
sent  flying  over  the  land  and  around  the  world  bearing  the 
piteous  and  beseeching  cry  of  the  oppressed  bondman,  and 
when  later  the  emancipation  proclamation  broke  the  fetters 
from  four  million  black  slaves,  men  were  set  to  studying  anew 
the  ideals  of  liberty  ,and  the  result  was  that  the  ideals  were 
broadened,  deepened  and  enlarged  so  as  to  include  and  define 
more  perfectly  personal  freedom  and  individual  right.  And 
again  there  was  an  impetus  given  to  all  lines  of  thought  and 
activity,  and  science,  invention  and -industry  took  a  bound 
forward  as  never  before. 

Thus  we  see  that  all  these  great  changes  of  society  were 
powerful  stimulants  of  thought  and  industrial  activity.  They 
were  followed  by  periods  of  greater  intelligence,  enterprise 
and  progress.  In  no  case  did  the  wheels  of  progress  turn 


146  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

backward.     In   no  case   did   the   new   thoughts   put  men  to 
sleep. 

Now  we  have  the  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  story  modernized 
and  brought  down  to  date  in  stories  of  tenement  house,  pack- 
ing house  and  child  labor;  of  trust  robberies,  monstrosities 
and  abnormalities;  of  capitalistic  conspiracies,  Pinkerton 
atrocities  and  of  many  other  forms  of  oppression.  Books, 
magazines  and  weekly  and  daily  papers  are  sent  flying  all 
over  our  land  and  around  the  world.  And  these  modern  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabins  also  carry  with  them  the  cry  of  the  oppressed 
bondman. 

But  it  is  a  different  cry  from  that  heard  a  half  century 
ago.  That  came  from  ignorant,  helpless  people  crouching  and 
cowering  before  the  lash:  this  comes  from  an  intelligent, 
powerful  and  rapidly  multiplying  army  of  men  with  ballots  in 
their  hands,  who  thought  they  were  free  but  have  discovered 
that  what  they  thought  was  freedom  was  but  a  delusive  light. 
That  was  a  pitiful  cry  from  those  who  were  conscious  only  of 
their  own  weakness,  accompanied  by  an  imploring  for  mercy : 
this  is  a  cry  of  defiance  from  those  who  are  conscious  of  all 
the  strength  of  a  vigorous  manhood,  that  is  being  rapidly 
united  and  cemented  into  a  compact  and  effective  force, 
accompanied  by  a  demand  for  justice;  and  this  in  a  tone  that 
shows  that  they  mean  to  have  it.  And  one  of  these  days  a 
new  Emancipation  Proclamation  will  be  issued  in  this  country 
and  the  shackles  will  fall  from  eighty  million  slaves,  white 
and  black,  and  simultaneously  with  this,  or  nearly  so,  the 
same  thing  will  occur  in  nearly  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
world. 

Again  the  ideals  of  liberty  have  been  brought  up  before 
the  public  for  another  overhauling.  It  has  been  discovered 
that  they  are  defective,  as  applied  in  actual  practice,  by  reason 
of  not  being  based  on  fundamentals;  that  while  the  "general 
welfare"  and  "equal  rights"  are  recognized  in  word,  as  very 
important,  yet  those  words  become  as  "sounding  brass  and  a 
tinkling  cymbal"  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  there  is  no  equal 
opportunity. 

The  revised,  or  rather  the  purified  ideals  of  liberty, 
divested  of  all  the  old,  time-worn  appendages  of  past  civili- 
zations, and  based  upon  the  three  solid  rocks  of  human  wel- 
fare, equal  ownership  of  the  earth  and  equal  opportunity  to 
use  its  resources  is  now  being  held  up  before  the  people  who 
are  very  rapidly  adopting  them ;  and  when,  a  little  further  on 
the  great  body  of  the  people  are  ready,  the  old  civilization 
will  be  thrown  aside,  and,  with  these  new  ideals  of  liberty 
before  us,  by  methods  already  devised,  we  will  begin  and 


SOCIAL   AND    INTELLECTUAL   CULTURE     147 

build  a  new  civilization  in  which  these  pure  ideals  may  be 
fully  realized. 

This  is  a  great  world-movement,  beside  which  all  other 
movements  of  society  pale  into  insignificance.  Even  now  it 
has  assumed  immense  proportions,  but  what  will  it  be  when 
we  come  to  make  the  transition  from  capitalism  to  Socialism? 
Imagine,  if  you  can,  the  immensity  of  the  change.  If  the 
discovery  of  an  unknown  coast  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
bold  action  of  an  obscure  monk  in  the  sixteenth,  the  desperate 
determination  of  a  few  backwoodsmen  in  the  eighteenth  and 
•the  freeing  of  a  few  million  black  slaves  in  the  nineteenth,  if 
each  of  these  in  its  own  time  was  so  effectual  in  waking  up 
mind,  and  constituted  such  an  impetus  in  all  lines  of  activity, 
what  will  be  the  effect  when  the  civilized  nations  usher  in 
the  co-operative  commonwealth?  What  do  you  think,  dear 
reader?  Would  the  effect  be  to  put  the  human  race  to  sleep? 
Do  you  think  that  man  would  begin  to  crawfish — go  back- 
ward through  all  the  stages  of  past  civilization  till  he  finds 
himself  a  beast  of  prey  in  a  cavern,  surrounded  by  the  skulls 
of  his  victims?  He  wouldn't  have  to  back  very  far,  provided 
he  passed  through  Wall  street,  Broadway  or  some  such 
places,  especially  No.  26  Broadway,  to  find  the  beast  of  prey 
with  victims  scattered  everywhere. 

But  here  comes  someone  running  and  yelling  at  the  top 
of  his  voice.  What  is  he  saying?  Listen.  "No  incentive! 
No  Incentive ! !  NO  INCEN-N-N-NTI VE ! ! !" 

This  no  incentive  argument  is  a  very  fine  looking  pet. 
It  is  such  a  pretty  beast,  that  I  almost  regret  to  interrupt  it, 
and  yet,  when  I  think  of  the  harm  it  is  doing  I  am  filled  with 
a  desire  to  flay  and  dissect  it  and  show  what  it  is  made  of. 

On  account  of  the  ignorance,  shiftlessness  or  improvi- 
dence of  a  part  of  the  people,  it  has  no  doubt  often  been  well 
in  the  past  that  there  was  an  incentive  that  was  sufficient  to 
prompt  another  part  to  lay  up  more  than  they  needed  for  their 
own  use,  but  in  these  days  of  labor  saving  machinery  when  it 
is  easy  to  produce  an  abundance  for  all,  such  incentive  is,  to 
say  the  most  of  it,  not  so  much  needed. 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  what  is  good  in  such  a  hap-hazard 
hit-and-miss,  topsy-turvy  system,  or  rather,  lack  of  system, 
but  waiving  the  question  as  to  whether  it  is  needed  or  not, 
under  the  competitive  system,  the  matter  stands  practically 
thus :  Every  time  one  gets  more  than  his  share  of  the  capital 
another  gets  less.  To  illustrate,  A  and  B  both  have  small 
farms  adjoining  each  other.  Each  requires  $500  to  support  his 
family.  Each  raises  potatoes.  When  each  raises  one  thou- 
sand sacks,  the  price  is  fifty  cents  per  sack  and  each  has  a  ' 
living.  Next  year  A  becomes  ambitious  and  raises  three 


148  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

thousand  sacks.  This  reduces  the  price  to  thirty  cents.  So 
B  is  short  two  hundred  dollars,  which  he  borrows  of  A  and 
A  has  two  hundred  dollars  more  which  he  loans  to  others. 
They  go  on  this  way  for  a  few  years  until  B  is  compelled  to 
sell  his  farm.  So  A  buys  it  and  has  two  farms  while  B  has 
none.  Then  B  continues  to  live  on  the  farm  and  afterward 
continues  to  pay  rent  to  A  for  the  use  of  it. 

So  we  find  that  this  pet  called  incentive,  innocent  as  he 
appears  and  innocent,  intentionally,  as  A  is  in  keeping  him,  is, 
after  all,  a  pesky  robber  that  has  brought  about  B's  enslave- 
ment to  A.  This  is  a  simple  illustration,  but  it  shows  how 
untold  millions  have  been  enslaved. 

The  process  is  generally  more  complicated,  but  the  same 
principle  operates  in  buying  or  selling.  If  the  money  that  A 
loans  to  other  parties  had  been  put  into  the  market  for  the 
purchase  of  other  articles  which  B  needed,  it  might  have 
raised  the  price  and  B's  living  would  have  cost  more  than 
$500. 

The  best  we  can  make  of  it  competition  is  gambling,  an 
all  hands  round  game,  in  which  the  weak  or  unlucky  are  con- 
tinually falling,  while  part  or  all  the  others  are  gaining  what 
they  lose.  It  is  disastrous  when  all  play  fair,  but  now  that 
the  trusts  have  entered  the  game  with  their  "tricks"  an  honest 
man  doesn't  stand  the  ghost  of  a  chance. 

One  trouble  now  is,  that  those  who  respond  too  little 
to  incentive  fall  behind  in  the  race  and  sink  into  a  posi- 
tion in  which  they  are  required  to  work  harder  for  a  poorer 
living.  That  is  to  say,  the  incentive  becomes  less,  while  the 
need  of  it  becomes  greater.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this 
fact  alone  has  discouraged  millions  and  sent  them  forth  as 
tramps  and  vagabonds,  who  if  it  had  been  otherwise,  would 
have  remained  useful  and  respectable  citizens.  Under  Social- 
ism this  evil  will  not  occur.  The  incentive  offered  each  one 
will  be  the  full  product  of  his  labor,  and  not  only  the  full 
product,  but  the  many  times,  or  at  least  several  times  greater 
product  which  the  economies  of  Socialism  will  furnish. 

Thus  Socialism  will  furnish  a  far  greater  incentive  to 
those  who  are  weak  in  responding  to  incentive.  If  the  present 
nine  hour  wage  or  two  or  three  times  that  amount  should  be 
held  up  before  one  of  these  weak  ones  and  he  called  on  to  do 
three  hours'  work  for  it,  do  you  think  that  the  three  hours' 
work  would  be  as  great  an  obstacle  to  the  drawing  power  of 
the  wage  as  nine  hours?  Now  don't  evade  the  question  by 
saying  that  some  would  not  do  even  three  hours'  work.  That 
is  not  the  question  at  all.  It  is  not  how  lazy  some  men  are, 
but  it  is  which  will  furnish  the  stronger  incentive  to  those  of 
this  class,  Socialism  or  capitalism? 


SOCIAL    AND    INTELLECTUAL    CULTURE     149 

But  what  will  Socialism  do  for  the  more  ambitious,  those 
who  respond  too  easily  to  incentive?  It  will  offer  them  the 
same  greatly  increased  incentive  until  their  wants  are  all 
supplied,  but  will  not  permit  them  to  accumulate  piles  of 
wealth  that  shall  be  a  menace  to  the  welfare  of  other  people. 
In  a  nation  that  constitutes  a  great  insurance  company,  that 
protects  against  misfortune,  and  incapacity  of  every  kind 
whatsoever,  when  enough  has  been  produced  by  all  to  supply 
the  wants  of  all  for  a  safe  distance  into  the  future,  it  would 
be  foolish  to  desire  to  accumulate  more.  Such  a  desire  would 
be  abnormal — just  as  much  so  as  the  appetite  that  prompts 
one  to  eat  far  beyond  what  is  necessary. 

The  incentives  of  Socialism  will  be  far  more  satisfactory 
in  ordinary  cases  than  at  present.  They  will  be  all  that  will 
be  needed.  There  will  be  less  physical  labor  required  and 
practically  no  individual  business  to  manage;  hence  much 
more  leisure,  and  this  together  with  the  influence  of  the  great 
change  in  waking  up  mind  can  hardly  fail  to  bring  a  period 
of  higher  intellectual  culture. 

As  to  public  spirit,  ambition  and  inventive  genius,  we 
will  say  that  public  spirit  is  now,  and  always  has  been  a 
strong  factor  in  the  world,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  is  con- 
tinually clogged  and  crippled,  crowded  out  and  smothered  by 
selfish  interests  and  necessities.  What  may  we  not  expect 
of  it  when  these  obstacles  are  removed? 

As  to  inventive  genius,  we  insert  here  a  quotation  from 
A.  M.  Dewey  in  "The  Ideal  Republic,"  pp.  24-27. 

"Why  should  ambition  or  inventive  genius  be  stifled  by  the  guarantee 
of  comfort  and  plenty  which  is  proposed  in  the  Co-operative  Common- 
wealth ?  As  well  assume  that  the  great  artist^  who  produces  an  Angelus 
while  living  in  comfort,  surrounded  by  conditions  which  inspire  the  best 
that  is  in  a  human  soul,  would  have  produced  a  better  picture  had  he 
lived  in  a  garret  with  hunger  and  abject  poverty  for  his  daily  com- 
panions, while  wife  and  children  cried  for  bread.  This  might  be  true 
were  money  the  only  inspiration  to  effort.  But  who  ever  heard  of  an 
inventor,  a  painter,  a  sculptor  or  a  composer  of  music  or  verse  who  found 
his  or  her  greatest  inspiration  in  the  hope  of  a  financial  reward?  Can 
any  one  point  to  a  great  achievement  which  promoted  the  welfare  of 
the  human  family  which  was  so  inspired?  Does  any  one  suppose  for  a 
moment  that  Napoleon,  Washington,  Lafayette,  Grant,  Lincoln,  Phillips, 
Dewey  or  Schley  were  inspired  to  heroic  effort  by  the  hope  of  monetary 
reward?  Did  any  man  or  woman  ever  perform  an  act  of  heroism  or 
sacrifice  for  money  alone?  If  they  did,  the  writer  does  not  know  of 
it.  *  *  * 

"How  does  the  inventor  fare  to-day  under  the  system  ^  of  com- 
petition. *  *  *  There  are  more  than  one  thousand  natents  issued  by 
the  patent  office  each  week  in  the  vear:  yet  the  number  of  men  who 
have  realized  a  competence  for  themselves  from  their  efforts  can  be  counted 
on  the  finders  of  the  two  hands.  Singer  made  a  fortune  by  mulcting  the 
people  in  the  price  of  his  machine.  Elias  Howe  died  comparatively  poor. 
Morse  ditto.  Watt,  Stevenson  and  Fulton  were  also  poor  men  at  the 


150  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

time  of  their  death.  The  inventor  of  the  block  -signal  system,  in  use  on 
many  railroads,  died  in  a  mad  house,  crazed  because  no  corporation  could 
be  induced  to  try  his  invention,  and  after  his  death  several  railroads 
adopted  it  at  once  as  the  very  best  possible  device  to  avoid  rear  end 
collisions  on  double  track  roads. 


"Edison,  than  whom  no  man  ever  achieved  greater  success  as  an 
inventor,  is  a  comparatively  poor  man.  But  his  inventions  have  electri- 
fied the  world,  theoretically  and  actually  and  he  will  live  in  history  after 
the  owners  of  the  product  of  his  genius  will  have  been  forgotten  with 
their  death. 

"And  so  it  is  with  the  inventors  of  the  cotton  gin,  the  power  loom, 
the  rotary  pump,  the  compressed  air  drill,  and  many  other  of  the  most 
useful  products  of  the  brain  of  man.  The  men  whose  genius  has  brought 
civilization  and  order  out  of  barbarism  and  chaos  are  not  the  men  who 
have  profited  by  the  effort.  To-day  the  inventor  is  recognized  as  a  public 
benefactor  to  just  the  extent  that  it  is  possible  to  skin  him  for  the  bene- 
fit and  profit  of  some  individual,  firm  or  corporation.  Under  Socialism  the 
inventor  would  himself  reap  the  full  reward  of  his  effort,  and  be  given 
a  place  in  the  Hall  of  Fame  just  in  proportion  as  his  invention  was  of 
value  to  society.  Do  you  not  think  there  would  be  in  such  a  system  suffi- 
cient incentive  to  stimulate  every  man  or  woman  to  their  best  efforts  ?" 

Space  forbids  or  we  might  add  many  pages  showing  the 
disappointments  and  neglect  suffered  by  inventors,  and  the 
injustice  heaped  upon  them  by  the  sheer  hoggishness  of  cor- 
porate greed. 

Socialism  is  already  producing  a  great  mental  awakening. 
The  Socialist  Party  has  a  literature  all  its  own,  and  at  once 
scientific,  rich,  and  glowing  with  the  love  of  humanity.  Much 
of  this  is  already  recognized  as  standard  everywhere,  while  no 
other  political  party  has  ever  had  a  literature  worth  preserving. 

This  awakening  process  must  continue  to  affect  more  and 
more  people,  and  when  the  great  change  occurs,  the  better 
opportunity,  the  leisure  time,  will  be  seized  eagerly  by  a  very 
large  proportion  of  the  people  and  used  in  mental  culture  and 
the  acquirement  of  knowledge.  Education  will  then  begin  in 
earnest.  It  will  be  counted  a  thing  worth  while  and  will  go  for- 
ward relieved  of  many  of  the  trammels  which  greed  now 
interposes. 

The  objects  and  ideals  of  education  will  be  made  to  con- 
form with  the  ideals  of  the  new  civilization.  There  is  reason 
to  hope  that  Socialism  will  eliminate  nearly  all  the  vanity 
and  superficiality  that  still  clings  to  our  educational  work,  in 
spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  educators  to  avoid  them.  They 
result  from  two  influences :  In  the  first  place,  our  whole 
civilization  is  permeated  with  vanity  which  is  a  form  of  sel- 
fishness lying  at  the  foundation.  What  wonder,  then,  that  we 
so  often  find  the  student  more  concerned  about  appearing 
well,  than  in  doing  actual  work.  I  believe  that  the  purer 
educational  ideals  under  Socialism  will  inspire  the  youth  with 


SOCIAL   AND    INTELLECTUAL   CULTURE     151 

less  of  the  desire  to  outshine  and  more  of  the  desire  to  make 
the  most  possible  of  one's  self. 

The  second  influence  which  causes  superficiality,  is  the 
mad  rush  for  wealth— the  desire  to  get  through  as  soon  as 
possible  and  go  into  business  and  the  estimating  the  value 
of  an  education  in  dollars  and  cents. 

The  pressure  of  these  two  influences,  emanating  from 
every  home,  from  every  shop,  from  every  office,  from  every 
factory,  from  every  street  corner,  from  every  moving  train 
and  from  all  the  institutions  of  society,  sweep  like  a  mighty 
avalanche  across  the  educational  field,  filling  the  faithful 
teachers  with  dismay  and  dissipating  their  fond  dreams  of 
thoroughness  and  successful  mind  building. 

Too  often  now,  our  schools  are  but  sweat  shops  in  which 
great  numbers  are  herded  together  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  the 
individual  being  lost  sight  of  in  the  mass,  all  at  work,  or 
supposed  to  be,  dipping,  skimming,  tasting,  here  a  little  and 
there  a  little,  all  in  a  hurry-flurry,  darting,  pitching,  too 
frequently  half  learning  a  little  of  everything  and  learning 
nothing  well,  and  emerging  with  but  one  acquirement,  a 
habit  of  hesitation  and  doubting  which  sends  them  stumb-  • 
ling  all  through  life,  and  the  teacher  the  worst  sweated  of 
them  all. 

Under  the  new  order  based  on  unselfishness,  vanity  with 
all  other  forms  of  selfishness  will  gradually  wear  away,  and 
the  financial  estimate  and  sweat  shop  methods  will  find  no 
place.  Then,  Mammon  worship  will  have  ceased  and  it  will 
be  considered  worth  while  to  give  the  individual  the  atten- 
tion which  he  requires. 

Then,  the  teacher's  dream  of  thoroughness  will  be  real- 
ized. Then,  the  educational  work  will  have  some  solidity  to 
it — will  be  a  real  mind  building  and  character  building.  Then, 
there  will  be  time  for  the  supposed  dull  pupil.  Then,  each 
step  will  be  a  solid  rock  on  which  the  pupil  will  stand 
firmly  and  from  which  he  will  step  confidently  and  self- 
reliantly  to  the  next  higher  step.  Then,  the  pupil  will  actually 
learn  to  think.  The  nations  will  become  nations  of  thinkers. 
The  people  will  come  to  have  real  thoughts  of  their  own  and 
not  depend  so  much  on  patent  thoughts,  ready  made  and 
turned  out  to  order.  This  will  surely  be  the  result,  for  effect 
always  follows  cause. 

The  diffusion  of  our  congested  city  populations  and  the 
better  home  co-operation  in  the  educational  work  which  must 
result  from  a  continually  rising  scale  of  intelligence  will 
greatly  facilitate  the  work.  When  we  come  to  consider  edu- 
cation as  development  ,the  education  of  intellect  as  a  learning 
to  think  and  proceed  intelligently  in  the  process  of  training 


152  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

the  mind  instead  of  pitching  at  it  an  immense  confused  and 
conglomerated  mass  of  ideas,  most  of  which  never  find  a  iodg- 
ment,  and  when  the  people  come  to  be  thoroughly  and  truly 
educated,  then  much  of  the  best  of  the  world's  philosophy -may 
be  condensed  into  the  great  seed  thoughts  with  mere  sug- 
gestive outlines  of  the  reasoning  based  upon  them  ,and  easily 
mastered. 

Time  was  when  knowledge  was  enthroned  and  it  was 
said  that  "knowledge  is  power."  Now,  however,  wealth  has 
been  crowned  king  and  knowledge  receives  only  a  secondary 
allegiance,  is  not  much  spoken  of  except  as  a  means  of  acquir- 
ing wealth :  but  when  wealth  (and  by  this  I  mean  the  desire 
for  great  piles  of  individual  wealth,)  has  been  dethroned, 
knowledge  will  again  take  the  first  place. 

Yes,  there  is  going  to  be  a  great  awakening.  The  mind 
will  break,  is  already  breaking  the  fetters  that  are  holding  it 
in  an  abject  bondage  to  an  old  time  formalism,  and  will  soar 
aloft  with  a  degree  of  freedom  hitherto  unknown  to  the  human 
race.  

CHAPTER  XIX. 
MORAL   INFLUENCES   UNDER   SOCIALISM. 

But,  you  ask,  what  will  be  the  principal  field  of  its 
soaring,  and  what  of  morals  under  Socialism?  Will  the 
mind  become  purer  and  better  by  being  made  wiser,  or  will 
greater  freedom  mean  greater  license?  To  this  we  simply 
ask  is  it  true,  the  old  saying,  that  ''ignorance  and  vice  go 
hand  in  hand." 

But  let  us  turn  and  inquire  what  is  the  principal  line 
of  excitement  in  this  great  movement?  What  motive  lies  at 
the  bottom?  To  what  side  of  human  nature  does  it  appeal? 
If  it  were  a  wild,  licentious  whoop  and  hurrah,  in  which  right 
and  justice  and  purity  and  decency  are  set  at  naught  and 
trampled  under  foot,  we  might  have  reason  to  fear.  But 
instead  of  this  we  find  that  the  opposite  is  true  and  that 
the  Socialist  movement  is  emphatically  a  great  moral  move- 
ment, a  superlatively  clean  movement,  a  scheme  by  which  it  is 
proposed  to  eliminate  most  of  the  evils  of  society,  many  of 
which  have  hitherto  been  unavoidable  under  all  the  circum- 
stances, or  rather,  to  cast  aside  the  old  civilization  with  all 
its  evils,  and  build  a  new  one  in  which  it  is  evident  that  the 
highest  and  purest  ideals  may  be  realized. 

It  is  a  proposition  to  put  into  operation  a  scheme  of 
society  that  will  for  the  most  part  eliminate  crime  and  vice, 
by  eliminating  the  causes  that  produce  them;  that  will  make 


MORAL    INFLUENCES    UNDER    SOCIALISM    153 

men  honest,  which  they  naturally  incline  to  be  under  normal 
conditions,  by  removing  the  temptations  to  dishonesty;  that 
will  avoid  injustice,  by  the  removal  of  practically  all  oppor- 
tunity for  it ;  and  that  will  actually  (not  theoretically)  provide 
for  the  general  welfare  by  the  most  systematic  economizing 
of  all  the  industrial  forces. 

Such  a  movement,  then,  must  be  a  decidedly  moral  move- 
ment, and  the  special  trend  of  thought  that  follows  the  great 
awakening  may  be  expected  to  be  a  decidedly  moral  trend. 

When  we  look  over  the  history  of  the  past  we  see  plainly 
that  man  has  made  a  great  moral  advancement.  The  fact  that 
he  still  has  room  for  improvement  does  not  alter  this.  Now, 
since  he  has  made  any  moral  progress  with  all  the  discourag- 
ing, dragging  down  influences  that  have  beset  him,  what  may 
we  not  expect  when  for  these  are  substituted  the  encouraging 
lifting  up  influences?  In  line  with  this  thought  we  quote  the 
words  of  Professor  Ely,  as  found  in  Modern  Socialism  by 
Charles  H.  Vail,  pp.  95-96. 

"Our  present  system,  then  must  be  rejected  as  not  answering  the 
requirements  of  practical  morality.  It  is  thought  necessary  at  every  step 
to  reinforce  it  with  oaths  of  citizens  and  administrative  officers,  and 
there  is  nothing  which  so  blunts  the  conscience  as  the  frequent  oaths  in 
our  political  life. 

"Our  system  of  taxation  tends  to  bring  the  morality  of  the  com- 
munity down  to  the  level  of  its  most  unscrupulous  members,  and  that  in 
this  way :  No  device  known  to  man  can  enable  the  assessor  to  get  at 
certain  classes  of  personal  property  in  the  hands  of  the  cunning  and 
unscrupulous.  They  make  false  returns  and  their  neighbors  know  it;  the 
entire  community,  in  fact,  know  that  men  of  large  means  are  not  bearing 
their  fair  share  of  taxation ;  people  feel  that  it  is  an  iniquity  to  place 
upon  them  burdens  which  properly  belong  to  others,  and  so  they,  too, 
make  inadequate  returns,  and  still  the  voice  of  conscience  with  meaning- 
less quibbles. 

"Another  aspect  of  this  case  is  presented  by  the  facts  of  competition 
in  business.  Those  who  escape  the  payment  of  a  fair  share  of  business 
taxes  have  an  advantage  in  business  which  enables  them  to  undersell  their 
competitors,  and  when  a  business  man  sees  ruin  staring  him  in  the  face 
because  his  dishonest  neighbor  makes  false  returns  and  pays  taxes  on 
only  a  fractional  part  of  his  property,  the  temptation  to  do  likewise  is 
almost  irresistible,  except  for  moral  heroes  and  moral  heroism  cannot  be 
made  the  basis  of  governmental  action." 

And  let  us  consider  before  dismissing  this  topic  that 
under  capitalism  nearly  all  the  evils  of  society,  nearly  all  the 
vices  of  man,  have  more  or  less,  and  in  one  way  and  another, 
been  subsidized  and  become  articles  of  merchandise,  and  it 
will  be  easily  understood  that  to  whatever  extent  these  evils 
are  caused  by  the  mercantile  motive,  the  greed  for  gain,  to 
that  extent  Socialism  will  eradicate  them  ;  for  under  Social- 
ism there  will  be  no  longer  any  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of 
such  mercenary  motives,  for  no  one  will  be  permitted  to 
engage  in  any  business  for  private  profit. 


154  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

One  of  the  two  principal  of  these  evils  is  the  liquor 
traffic.  There  are  two  main  reasons  why  this  traffic  con- 
tinues: First,  because  Jack  wants  to  drink,  and  Second, 
because  of  a  greed  for  gain  in  others. 

Any  one  who  has  even  a  tolerable  understanding  of  this 
subject  knows  that  the  second  of  these  is  by  far  the  greater 
reason.  This  is  shown  by  the  facility  with  which  anti-liquor 
bills  "in  legislatures  are  defeated  by  the  great  liquor  estab- 
lishments. It  appears  in  the  opposition  to  local  option  in 
small  towns,  on  the  ground  that  it  will  drive  away  trade. 
It  is  seen  in  the  saloon  itself,  and  in  all  its  many  substitutes, 
including  the  drug  store,  the  "pocket  saloon,"  the  "blind 
pig,"  etc. 

Now,  as  to  the  first  reason.  Jack  is  not  generally  a  very 
bad  sort  of  a  fellow,  in  fact,  he  is  frequently  very  genial  and 
often  it  was  partly  on  account  of  his  jolly  good  nature  and 
amiability  that  he  contracted  the  drink  habit.  Usually  in 
his  sober  moments  he  realizes  that  it  is  a  bad  habit  and  would 
be  glad  to  quit.  To  such  an  extent  is  this  true  that  the  say- 
ing that  "the  drunkard  reforms  every  Monday  morning,"  has 
become  proverbial.  But  in  our  present  society  his  chances 
against  the  habit  are  very  poor.  He  can  scarcely  go  any- 
where on  the  earth,  not  even  out  to  sea,  without  having  the 
temptation  placed  before  him. 

The  second  reason  for  the  liquor  traffic  is  wholly  finan- 
cial and  mercenary,  and,  of  course,  would  not  exist  under 
Socialism ;  and  as  to  the  first,  the  victim  of  the  drink  habit 
would  have  every  encouragement  to  reform.  It  could  be 
arranged  for  him  to  work  where  he  would  not  come  in  contact 
with  the  temptation.  If  the  Keeley  cure  or  any  other  proved 
to  be  effective  he  would  be  encouraged  to  take  it. 

Of  course,  under  Socialism  the  people  through  the 
government,  would  have  the  power  to  regulate  or  prohibit 
the  manufacture  and  dispensing  of  liquors,  in  whatever  man- 
n^.  seemed  best  to  them.  There  would  be  no  opportunity 
for  private  persons  to  render  the  public  management  of  no 
effect.  Under  Socialism,  if  a  majority  want  prohibition  they 
may  vote  for  it,  and  it  will  prohibit.  There  will  be  nothing 
to  prevent  it — no  drug  store  dodge,  no  pocket  saloon,  and  the 
entire  "blind  pig"  species  will  have  become  extinct. 

But,  I  believe  most  Socialist  writers  at  present  favor  the 
open  windowed  public  dispensary,  with  no  loafing  and  no 
treating  allowed,  the  liquor  to  be  drank  on  the  spot,  with 
the  clerks  wages  just  the  same  whether  he  sells  little  or  much. 
This  cannot  reasonably  be  objected  to  by  those  who  oppose 
prohibition  on  the  ground  of  its  interference  with  personal 
liberty,  and  it  is  certainly  reasonable  to  expect  that  with  the 


MORAL    INFLUENCES    UNDER    SOCIALISM    155 

elimination  of  the  element  of  profit  which  Socialism  would 
bring,  and  the  encouragement  to  cease  drinking  which  Social- 
ism would  furnish,  it  will  at  once  dwindle  into  insignificance, 
and  will  shortly  die  out  altogether. 

The  other  of  the  two  most  important  subsidized  vices,  is 
the  social  evil.  This  like  the  other  also  has  two  main  reasons 
for  its  existence.  First  unbridled  lust,  and  second,  greed  for 
gain.  The  latter  may  exist  in  either  the  victim  or  the  one  by 
whom  she  is  victimized;  and  when  in  the  victim,  it  usually, 
or  at  least  very  frequently,  begins  with  the  direst  necessity. 

It  is  well  known  and  conceded  on  all  hands,  that  a  very 
large  majority  of  the  cases  of  prostitution  are  the  result  of 
money  considerations  to  either  the  victim  or  those  who  work 
her  ruin,  or  both — temptations  which  would  not  exist  under 
Socialism. 

Socialism  would  at  once  reduce  the  number  to  those 
whose  downfall  is  wrought  by  lustful  inclinations ;  and,  if 
as  we  have  reason  to  believe,  Socialism  brings  a  much  higher 
moral  plane,  the  number  will  be  still  further  reduced.  In 
a  society  where  all  have  both  opportunity  and  encourage- 
ment to  be  self-respecting,  the  moral  influences  must  become 
greatly  improved. 

There  is  a  constant  struggle  going  on  between  the  forces 
of  good  and  evil ;  and  as  in  the  matter  of  wealth  accumula- 
tion in  our  present  society  every  dollar  that  one  has  becomes 
a  power  in  his  hands  enabling  him  to  get  more,  so  in  the 
Socialist  society,  every  time  an  immoral  influence  is  elimi- 
nated and  a  moral  influence  substituted  for  it,  it  will  con- 
stitute so  much  capital  gained  by  the  forces  of  good,  and 
every  addition  of  such  capital  will  furnish  an  additional 
impetus  that  will  accelerate  the  movement.  Like  the  accumu- 
lation of  great  fortunes  it  will  roll  and  gather  as  it  rolls.  The 
contemplation  of  this  feature  of  Socialism,  more  than  any 
other,  fills  my  mind  with  optimism  concerning  -the  future. 

And  it  seems  to  me  that  there  is  little  room  for  doubt 
on  this  point,  for  do  we  not  see  the  same  principle  fre- 
quently exemplified,  not  only  on  a  large  scale,  as  in  a  nation, 
a  city  or  a  large  section  of  country,  but  also  on  a  small 
scale,  as  in  a  school,  a  neighborhood  or  a  small  town. 

A  particular  vantage  point  at  which  this  principle  will 
operate  under  Socialism  is  found  in  the  fact  that,  "the  motives 
of  a  selfish  life"  having  been  eliminated,  that  natural  human 
sympathy  and  love  for  his  kind,  which  under  normal  conditions 
exists  in  every  one,  will  cease  to  be  smothered  out  and  caused 
to  dwindle  away  to  nothingness.  Many  a  man,  naturally  as 
good  as  the  average,  and  even  better,  being  educated  to  sel- 
fishness in  our  mercenary  schools  of  finance,  becomes  a 


156  -ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

betrayer  of  female  virtue  as  a  matter  of  course,  with  little  or 
no  compunctions  of  conscience,  where,  if  he  had  been  under 
an  opposite  environment,  nothing  would  have  been  farther 
from  him. 

But  we  must  not  think  that  the  operation  of  this  prin- 
ciple is  confined  to  the  stock  market  gambler  who  hurls  to 
ruin  his.  thousands  of  victims  and  learns  to  laugh  at  their 
discomfiture.  It  operates  in  a  milder  form,  but  just  as  surely 
in  its  effects,  among  all  classes  of  society.  This  looking  out 
for  number  one,  to  the  disregard  of  the  interests  and  wel- 
fare of  others,  a  thing  which  all  are  now  required  to  practice 
more  or  less,  educates  to  selfishness,  and  this  selfishness,  as 
we  can  easily  see,  cannot  but  increase  the  danger  to  virtue 
in  the  hour  of  temptation,  while  the  presence  of  unselfishness 
is  always  an  added  safeguard. 

The   Family.     (Modern   Socialism,   pp.    133-136.) 

"It  is  sometimes  suggested  by  the  refainers  of  capitalism  that 
Socialism  is  Hostile  to  the  family.  This  can  hardly  be  called  a  miscon- 
ception, although  in  charity  we  will  list  it  as  such.  It  shows  that  the  advo- 
cates of  the  present  order  mobilize  every  argument,  however  sophistical, 
that  can  be  utilized  to  excite  popular  prejudice  against  any  system  that 
antagonizes  it.  It  also  evidences  that  our  friends  are  short  of  ammunition. 

"As  Socialism  has  to  do  solely  with  economic  relations,  the  sup- 
position is  at  once  seen  to  be  absurd.  Socialism  will,  however,  have 
many  indirect  bearings  of  vast  importance,  and  none  of  more  conse- 
quence than  that  upon  woman  and  the  conjugal  relation.  That  both 
would  be  greatly  elevated  under  Socialism  none  can  doubt  who  are  suffi- 
ciently informed  to  venture  an  impartial  opinion.  It  is  the  Socialist  who 
has  called  attention  to  the  destruction  of  the  family  life  due  to  present 
industrial  methods.  The  present  economic  order  is  the  direct  cause  of  the 
disintegration  of  the  family.  The  separation  of  father,  mother  and  chil- 
dren in  our  great  industrial  centers  is  necessitated  by  the  struggle  for 
existence.  Each  must  seek  through  his  or  her  own  efforts  the  necessities 
of  life.  The  wage  of  the  common  laborer  being  insufficient  to  support  his 
family,  the  wife  and  children  are  pressed  into  service  and  the  home  life 
is  destroyed. 


"Not  only  would.  Socialism  elevate  the  family,  but  it  will  also  elevate 
woman,  by  placing  her  economically  upon  an  equal  footing  with  man.  I 
do  not  mean  by  this  that  Socialism  will  simply  open  the  door  of  indus- 
trial employments  to  woman,  for  this  is  already  done  in  most  departments, 
and  with  most  baneful  results.  In  those  fields  open  to  woman  competition 
has  been  fiercer,  and  wages  so  lowered  that  the  whole  family  now  earns  but 
the  wage  formerly  received  by  the  head  of  the  family.  Such  has  been 
the  result  in  many  industries  thrown  open  to  the  free  competition  of 
women  with  men.  Socialism  docs  not  propose  to  increase  this  com- 
petition, but  recognizing  the  physiological  difference  between  the  sexes, 
it  would  secure  to  woman  the  opportunity  of  suitable  employment,  with 
reward  according  to  results.  This  would  mean  the  true  emancipation  of 
woman.  Instead  of  being  dependent  as  now  upon  man  for  her  support, 
she  would  be  at  liberty  to  earn  her  own  livelihood.  This  does  not  imply 
that  all  women  would  avail  themselves  of  this  privilege,  or  that  Socialism 
would  encourage  her  in  seeking  this  employment.  The  very  fact  that  she 


MORAL    INFLUENCES    UNDER   SOCIALISM    157 

has  th^  power  to  earn  her  own  living  would  have  a  salutary  effect  It 
would  extirpate  the  thought  of  marriage  as  a  'commercial  institution  ''  and 
would  exterminate  m  toto  the  'matrimonial  market.'  Were  women 
enabled  to  honestly  earn  their  own  living,  they  would  not  consent  to 
marry  for  a  pecuniary  consideration,  or  for  anything  else  but  love  'The 
spirit  of  mercantilism,'  says  Mr.  Sprague,  'has  polluted  the  stream  of  love 
and  virtue  till  the  most  sacred  human  relation  is  often  made  a  matter 
of  commerce.'  Woman  no  less  than  man  must  be  endowed  with  economic 
independence  in  order  to  secure  perfect  freedom.  This  does  not  mean 
that  women  whether  married  or  single  should  as  a  rule  earn  their  own 
livelihood,  or  that  Socialism  expects  such.  Socialists  hold  that  it  is  the 
husband's  province  to  provide  for  the  necessities  of  his  family,  and  the 
very  fact  that  the  new  order  would  render  it  easy  for  a  man  to  support  a 
family  would  encourage  matrimony. 

"Says  Lawrence  Gronlund,  'It  will  enable  every  healthy  adult  man 
and  woman  to  marry  whenever  they  feel  so  inclined,  without  present  or 
prospective  misgivings  in  regard  to  their  support  or  the  proper  education 
of  children.  Socialists  are  charged,  ignorantly  or  insidiously,  with  attempt- 
ing to  destroy  the  family.  Why,  we  want  to  enable  every  man  and 
woman  to  form  a  happy  family.  And  not  only  to  form  a  happy  family 
but  to  preserve  one,  for  Socialism  would  remove  the  chief  cause  of 
divorce.'  Says  Professor  Ely,  'The  causes  for  divorce  have  been  shown 
by  the  National  Department  of  Labor  at  Washington  to  be  largely  econo- 
mic. It  is  the  pressure  of  economic  wants  in  the  lower  middle  class  which 
is  most  fruitful  of  divorce.'  Socialism  by  removing  this  pressure,  would 
mitigate  this  growing  evil  which  threatens  the  home  and  the  perpetuity 
of  our  civilization." 

Religion  Under  Socialism.  The  question  naturally  arises, 
how  are  churches  and  other  institutions  which  all  the  people 
do  not  want,  to  be  supported  under  Socialism?  If  a  church, 
for  instance,  wants  the  services  of  a  man  as  pastor  and  that 
man  is  enrolled  in  the  industrial  force,  how  can  it  be  arranged? 

The  answer  to  this  is  very  simple.  If  a  church  or  any 
number  of  people,  organized  or  unorganized,  desire  the  ser- 
vices for  a  part  or  all  his  time  of  any  member  of  the  indus- 
trial force,  they  can  petition  the  government  and  he  will  be 
exempt  from  duty  for  the  specified  time  and  the  value 
of  his  time  will  be  charged  to  the  petitioners.  This  will  apply 
to  such  preachers,  lecturers,  teachers,  editors,  authors  or 
any  others  whom  a  part  of  the  people  desire  to  employ. 

The  idea  is  that  it  will  be  the  business  of  the  govern- 
ment to  produce  whatever  the  people  want  and  furnish  it  to 
them  at  cost,  whether  it  be  the  direct  services  of  a  man,  papers, 
books,  food,  clothing  or  furniture ;.  whether  it  be  articles  used 
by  all  the  people  or  a  part  of  the  people. 

To  put  it  in  another  form,  each  article  produced  repre- 
sents service.  At  the  beginning  of  each  year  the  board  of 
statisticians  will  make  up  their  estimates  of  the  amount  of 
services  required  by  the  people  during  the  year.  The  quo- 
tient of  the  whole  number  of  hours  of  service  required  divided 
by  the  whole  number  of  workers,  will  be  the  number  of 
hours  service  of  each  worker  during  the  year,  and  this  divided 


158  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

by  the  number  of  working  days  in  the  year  will  show  the 
number  of  hours  per  day  of  service  for  each  worker. 

In  making  up  the  estimate  of  services  required  as  above 
mentioned,  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  into  account  the 
demand  for  preachers,  lecturers,  etc.,  and  those  who  support 
them  will  receive  less  service  in  other  forms,  in  food,  clothing, 
shelter,  car  fares,  books  etc. 

All  books  and  periodicals  will  be  published  by  the  govern- 
ment and  furnished  to  the  people  at  cost,  but  a  book  or  paper 
that  few  use  will  cost  more. 

As  to  the  attention  given  to  Christianity  in  the  period 
immediately  following  the  introduction  of  Socialism,  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  The  intimate  connection  of  Christianity 
with  all  moral  movements  and  the  fact  that  the  ethics  of 
Socialism  are  announced  to  be  identical  with  the  ethics  of 
Christianity  gives  assurance  that  Christianity  will  receive 
much  attention  in  that  period  of  intellectual  activity,  and  we 
may  be  further  assured  that  the  circumstances  will  be  such 
that  the  truth,  whatever  it  may  prove  to  be,  will  have  a 
much  better  opportunity  to  rise  to  the  top. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
THE   CLASS   STRUGGLE. 

As  we  look  over  the  world,  we  see  a  great  struggle  going 
on.  It  is  not  new.  It  is  as  old  as  civilization.  It  has  come 
into  distinct  notice  and  taken  definite  form  in  this  country 
only  during  the  last  half  century.  I  mean  what  is  generally 
known  as  the  struggle  between  capital  and  labor,  and  by  that, 
of  course,  is  meant  the  struggle  between  the  capitalist  and 
the  laborer. 

On  the  side  of  capital  it  is  claimed  that  capital  and  labor 
both  deserve  and  receive  equal  consideration  in  this  country, 
while  on  the  other  hand  the  labor  advocates  say  that  labor  is 
superior  to  capital  and  is  far  more  deserving,  while  not 
receiving  so  great  consideration.  Even  so  distinguished  a 
person  as  Abraham  Lincoln,  deplored  the  fact  that  capital 
is  placed  above  labor  in  the  structure  of  government  saying 
that  labor  is  prior  to  and  the  superior  of  capital;  that  it  is 
the  creator  of  capital  and  deserves  much  the  greater  con- 
sideration. 

During  the  past  ten  years  this  struggle  has  been  intensi- 
fying very  rapidly,  and  now  it  looms  up  as  never  before.  Capi- 
tal charges  labor  with  murders,  conspiracies  and  all  the  other 
crimes  of  the  decalogue. 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  159 

Labor  charges  capital  with  injustice,  tyranny  and  cruelty 
to  the  employees  of  railway,  mine  and  factory,  especially  to 
the  women  and  children  in  their  employ.  Labor  also  charges 
capital  with  judicial  murder  and  conspiracies  to  discredit  and 
break  up  organized  labor  and  bring  it  into  disrepute  in  the 
eyes  of  other  people;  with  corrupting  congresses,  legisla- 
tures and  the  courts,  and  many  other  crimes  too  numerous 
to  mention. 

The  struggle  as  it  is  now  going  on,  is  principally  between 
the  capitalist  class,  and  the  proletarian  or  landless  class,  and 
more  particularly  that  portion  of  it  that  is  organized  into 
labor  unions. 

Just  above  these  is  a  class  of  small  capitalists,  usually 
called  the  middle  class.  Some  of  these  side  with  the  great 
capitalists  and  some  with  the  labor  unions,  while  many  are 
in  doubt  as  to  where  the  interest  of  their  class  lies,  and 
also  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  the  struggle  viewed  from 
a  moral  basis. 

It  seems  to  be  generally  agreed  among  those  of  both  the 
middle  and  proletarian  classes,  that  many  oppressions  are 
inflicted  upon  both  by  the  great  capitalists.  But  as  to  the 
moral  status  of  the  present  struggle  between  organized  capi- 
tal and  organized  labor,  many  are  very  much  in  doubt.  Many 
Christian  people  are  especially  perplexed  at  this  point. 

As  I  have  not  made  a  special  study  of  this  question,  I 
will  not  undertake  to  give  much  information  concerning  it, 
but  will  confine  myself  for  the  most  part  to  observations, 
suggestions  and  reasoning  on  generally  admitted  facts,  hoping 
that.  I  may  thereby  assist  the  reader  somewhat  in  coming 
to  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  situation. 

My  life  having  been  mostly  spent  on  the  frontier  I  have 
had  very  little  personal  acquaintance  with  either  of  the  two 
contestants,  and  therefore,  if  I  must  admit  a  shortage  of 
personal  knowledge,  I  may,  for  that  reason,  claim  some 
degree  of  freedom  from  personal  bias. 

It  is  a  fact  so  well  known  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to 
mention  it,  that  in  almost  every  war,  broil,  fight  or  quarrel 
of  any  kind,  even  down  to  a  family  quarrel,  there  is  generally 
more  or  less  wrong  on  both  sides.  This  is  true  in  cases  where 
one  side  is  decidedly  in  the  right  and  the  other  is  decidedly 
in  the  wrong,  and  possibly  it  sometimes  occurs  that  the  party 
that  is  in  the  right  as  to  the  cause  of  the  trouble  is  guilty  of 
more  wrong  in  the  squabble.  Viewing  the  matter  thus,  the 
first  question  that  arises  is,  which  is  the  right  side  in  the 
great  struggle?  To  answer  this  we  cite  the  reader  to  the 
chapters  on  Competition,  The  Trust  and  the  Justice  of 
Socialism,  in  which  we  endeavored  to  show,  and  we  think  did 


160  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

show,  that  all  the  great  millionaire  fortunes  are  usurpations, 
being  the  result  of  accumulations  not  always  dishonest,  but 
nevertheless  always  unjust,  the  result  of  the  operation  of  an 
unjust  system. 

If,  then,  our  conclusion  is  true,  the  capitalist  side  of  this 
struggle  is  the  wrong  side  and  the  laborer's  side  is  the  right 
side,  for  they  are  kept  out  of  possession  of  what  rightfully 
belongs  to  them.  And  whatever  grievance  other  wage  work- 
ers, or  the  middle  class  (many  of  whom  are  in  even  a  worse 
condition  than  the  wage  worker,)  may  have  against  labor 
unions,  the  great  capitalists  have  ho  just  financial  grievance 
against  them — none  at  all  unless  it  be  of  a  criminal  nature. 
And  here  let  me  repeat,  that  if  all  the  crimes  and  all  the 
evils  charged  to  labor  unions  were  proven  it  would  be  an 
argument  in  favor  of  Socialism,  for.  unionism  is  the  product 
of  capitalism,  so  that  its  crimes  whether  many  or  few  are 
indirectly  the  product  of  capitalism ;  and  the  greater  the 
crimes,  the  greater  the  reason  that  capitalism  should  go  and 
be  replaced  by  Socialism. 

But  perhaps  the  capitalist  would  say  that  the  Socialist 
recruits  come  mostly  from  the  trade  union  ranks,  and  that 
there  would  be  no  use  trying  to  inaugurate  Socialism  with 
such  material ;  and  to  this  we  reply  that  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  prosperous  communities  of  respectable  people  have 
grown  up  from  settlements  of  criminals,  and,  as  under  Social- 
ism the  temptations  to  commit  crime  would  be  mostly 
removed,  there  would  be  a  greater  encouragement  to  reform 
than  in  any  of  the  penal  settlements  mentioned.  But  if  union- 
ism is  so  desperately  criminal  in  its  tendencies  as  the  capi- 
talists would  have  us  believe,  we  would  better  rush  the 
game  and  usher  in  Socialism  as  soon  as  possible,  before  so 
many  have  joined  the  unions  and  been  debased  as  to  make  the 
number  to  be  reformed  exceedingly  large. 

Since  the  argument  is  for  Socialism,  whatever  the  case 
may  prove  to  be,  and  since  the  object  of  this  work  is  the 
discussion  of  Socialism,  we  might  with  propriety  rest  the 
case  here ;  for,  having  determined  which  is  the  right  side,  it 
is  not  so  very  important  to  know  which  side  is  guilty  of  the 
most  wrong  in  the  details  of  the  struggle.  The  whole  strug- 
gle is  a  bad  condition  growing  out  of  the  accumulated  wrongs 
of  a  defective  system.  What  we  need  is  to  change  the  system. 
It  is  much  more  important  to  apply  a  remedy  that  is  effective, 
than  to  ascertain  all  the  detailed  manifestations  of  the  disease; 
to  put  an  end  to  the  wrongs  than  to  know  where  to  place  the 
blame  of  each  wrong  that  is  committed.  Nevertheless,  in 
order  to  ^et  the  whole  situation  clearly  in  mind,  we  will 
continue  the  analysis. 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  X6i 

What,  then,  of  the  two  great  parties?  Who  are  they? 
What  is  their  environment?  And  what  are  the  motives  that 
prompt  the  action  of  each? 

In  a  general  way,  we  may  say  of  both  parties,  that  they 
are  men,  all  human  beings,  capable  of  all  the  virtues  and 
liable  to  all  the  vices  and  frailties  of  human  nature.  The 
natural  qualities  of  the  average  millionaire  are  probably  not 
so  very  different  from  those  of  the  average  trade  unionist — 
just  a  little  more  ambition,  a  little  more  acquisition,  a  little 
more  cunning,  and  a  little  less  brotherly  sympathy,  a  little 
less  conscience.  In  some  cases  there  is  a  great  difference 
in  these,  and  in  others  a  considerable  difference  the  other 
way;  but  in  the  average  as  we  have  stated,  there  is  but  just 
a  little  difference  of  natural  qualities.  Whatever  differences 
now  exist  result  mostly  from  a  difference  in  training. 

First,  take  the  millionaire.  To  understand  the  evolution 
of  the  millionaire,  turn  back  and  read,  if  you  do  not  recall  it, 
what  we  said  of  the  development  of  the  pure,  unselfish  and 
honest  youth  into  the  corrupt,  selfish,  dishonest,  money- 
mad  maniac.  Of  course  most  of  the  great  capitalists  will 
resent  the  accusation  of  dishonesty,  and  so,  as  I  am  not 
personally  acquainted  with  them,  I  will  presume  that  many  of 
them  are  comparatively  honest.  But  the  world  has  different 
standards  of  honesty.  Examining  these,  we  find  all  grades 
from  nothing  up  to  that  perfect  pattern  of  whom  it  was 
said,  "Neither  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth."  Yes,  the 
millionaire  is  made  of  about  the  same  clay  as  other  people, 
but  his  surroundings  are  different.  The  influences  that  gov- 
ern his  life  are  different.  He  looks  from  a  different  view- 
point at  many  of  the  great  questions  that  agitate  society. 
His  glasses  are  colored  with  self-interest  and  set  in  the  golden 
frame  of  vested  rights.  This  tends  to  make  him  proud,  arro- 
gant, arbitrary  and  often  tyrannical.  There  is  a  great  distance 
between  him  and  his  employees.  He  associates  chiefly  with 
those  of  his  own  class,  and  like  all  other  classes,  the  capitalists 
are  not  exempt  from  clannishness,  a  relic  of  barbarism 
which  if  we  will  watch  for,  we  will  see  enough  of  among 
all  classes  to  take  the  conceit  out  of  us  when  we  become 
vain  of  our  very  high  civilization.  Clannishness  minimizes 
the  faults  of  one's  own  class  and  magnifies  those  of  the  oppos- 
ing class.  Clannishness  is  suspicious  and  judges  a  whole 
class  by  the  worst  it  knows  or  suspects  in  any  of  its  members. 
This  was  illustrated  by  the  simple  minded  Indian  who  said, 
"The  Kentuckians  are  all  alike,  all  very  bad  people."  Clan- 
nishness often  justifies  or  excuses  the  crimes  of  its  own  class, 
and  is  easily  made  to  believe  that  crimes  committed  by  them 
were  committed  by  its  opponents. 


i62  .  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

Going  back  along  the  line  to  the  point  of  divergence 
between  these  opposing  classes,  let  us  inquire  about  the 
training  of  the  trade  unionist.  What  is  his  environment  and 
what  is  its  effect  on  him? 

Well,  to  begin  with,  he  usually  earned  his  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  his  brow.  That,  under  a  normal  estimate  of  respecta- 
bility, would  be  calculated  to  make  him  decidedly  self-respect- 
ing; but  society's  estimate  of  respectability  is  decidedly  ab- 
normal. Society  has  come  to  regard  as  the  most  eminently 
respectable  those  who  earn  nothing  themselves  and  are  the 
most  cunning  exploiters  of  the  labor  of  others;  and  not  only 
this,  but  labor  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  degrading. 

This  has  had  a  most  baleful  and  debasing  effect  upon  the 
laborer,  for  he  has  felt  most  keenly  the  degradation.  This 
false  notion  of  respectability  has  given  him  a  feeling  of  self- 
abasement  where  self-respect  ought  to  have  been.  But  now, 
trade  unionism  is,  to  some  extent,  leading  him  out  of  this 
error.  He  is  coming  to  be  more  self-respecting,  and  con- 
sequently is  rising  in  intelligence,  character  and  self-reliance. 

But  along  with  this  the  trade  unionist  is  awakening  to  the 
fact  that  he,  along  with  all  other  toilers,  is  being  robbed  of  a 
large  part  of  what  rightfully  belongs  to  him.  This  puts  him 
into  an  ugly  mood.  Like  the  wayfarer  who  has  slept  by  the 
roadside,  and,  awakening  misses  his  purse,  he  is  liable  to 
pick  a  quarrel  with  the  first  man  he  meets,  and  is  apt  to  be 
more  or  less  suspicious  of  nearly  every  one.  And  this  feel- 
ing is  not  confined  to  the  unionist.  It  was  felt  by  many  a  far- 
mer in  the  days  of  Populist  agitation,  and  there  are  now  many 
farmers,  small  merchants  and  other  middle  class  people,  as 
well  as  wage  workers,  organized  and  unorganized,  that  are 
being  made  to  feel  the  same  way  by  the  Socialist  agitation. 

These  influences  serve  to  ceme.nt  the  trade  union  forces 
more  firmly  together  in  the  bonds  of  fraternal  comradeship. 
They  increase  the  spirit  of  clannishness ;  for  the  unionist  is 
clannish  as  well  as  other  classes.  It  comes  to  him  as  a 
result  of  scenting  a  common  danger.  He  also  looks  through 
glasses  colored  by  his  own  self-interest;  but  they  are  set  in 
the  frame  of  natural  rights  to  the  extent  that  he  understands 
natural  rights. 

And  now  what  of  the  crimes  charged  against  each  other 
by  the  contending  parties? 

Here  permit  me  to  repeat,  that  among  any  very  large 
number  there  are  nearly  always  some  who  are  sufficiently  sel- 
fish, avaricious  and  wicked,  to  commit  any  crime  that  promises 
great  reward.  (See  corollary  to  principle  I.)  I  introduce  this 
as  having  a  possible  bearing  on  either  or  both  sides  in  this 
conflict. 


TH'E    CLASS    STRUGGLE  163 

It  is  clear  to  any  one  who  has  studied  the  subject  closely, 
that  there  are  many  great  temptations  besetting  the  great 
capitalists.  Just  what  proportion  of  them  yield  I  am  not  con- 
cerned to  know;  but  it  may  be  interesting  to  consider  that 
the  world  of  commerce  is  a  great  game.  We  are  all  gamblers, 
all  who  conduct  any  sort  of  business  for  profit — all  except 
the  wage  worker.  Those  who  play  fair  according  to  the 
rules  of  fairness,  which  are  not  very  well  defined  and  often  far 
from  being  fair,  are  honest  as  the  world  counts  honesty  in 
our  present  society,  honest  gamblers ;  and  those  who  play 
"tricks"  are  dishonest,  dishonest  gamblers.  Now,  I  believe 
it  is  pretty  generally  understood  that  among  common  gamb- 
lers, one  who  plays  fair  stands  no  show  against  those  who 
play  "tricks."  In  the  light  of  this  thought,  then,  it  would 
seem  highly  probable  that  nearly  all  those  at  the  top  have 
played  "tricks,"  else  they  would  not  have  gotten  there,  and 
are  therefore  dishonest  gamblers.  Yes,  we  are  almost  driven 
to  the  conclusion  that  those  at  the  top  are  mostly  corrupt ; 
but  perhaps  the  slackness  of  the  rules  of  fairness  may  ease 
the  consciences  of  some  of  them  somewhat ;  I  would  like  to 
wedge  in  as  much  charity  as  possible ;  but  really  there  doesn't 
seem  to  be  much  room  for  charity,  not  much  chance  for  ease 
of  conscience,  unless  they  have  adopted  the  old  saying  that 
"all  is  fair  in  war." 

Capitalism  is  mercenary  at  best,  in  all  its  manifestations, 
but  in  its  more  intense  and  concentrated  forms,  it  is  simply 
ruthless.  All  in  all,  it  is  not  strange  then,  that  our  magazines 
and  papers  are  filled  with  hair  raising  stories  of  the  stock 
market,  of  the  grinding  up  of  woman  and  child  life  in  fac- 
tories, of  peonage  atrocities,  railway  wrecks  caused  by  work- 
ing men  long  hours,  requiring  them  to  rush  so  as  to  leave  no 
time  for  precaution  against  accident,  and  failure  of  owners  to 
keep  roads  in  proper  repair.  It  is  not  strange  that  mine  disas- 
ters are  of  frequent  occurrence  because  the  owners  fail  to 
provide  the  proper  precautions  and  -life  saving  appliances.  It 
is  not  strange  that  we  read  of  "packing  house  scandals"  and 
"insurance  swindles."  It  is  not  strange  that  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller, the  boasted  "Honest  John,"  the  great  religio-educatio- 
bcnevolcnto-humanitarian  has  been  shown  up  to  have  acquired 
his  wealth  by  methods  the  most  ruthless  and  unscrupulous ; 
that  instead  of  being  an  honest  gambler,  as  he  has  claimed, 
he  has  been  the  most  cunning,  ruthless,  and  unprincipled  trick- 
ster of  all,  which  easily  accounts  for  his  having  reached  the 
top.  It  is  not  strange,  now  that  the  people  are  waking  up, 
that  he  is  planning  to  put  them  to  sleep  with  a  quarter  billion 
dollar  rock-a-bye  will,  which  if  given,  will  be  arranged, 
no  doubt,  so  that  the  beneficiaries  will  lose  every  time 


1 64  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

there  is  water  squeezed  out  of  his  stocks.  It  is  not  strange 
that  he  has  already  given  magnificent  sums  to  colleges, 
churches,  missionary  societies  etc.,  closing  the  list  with  thirty- 
two  millions  to  the  Educational  Board,  while  the  student 
\v?nks  and  says  "It's  too  thin;  he  is  trying  to  buy  up  the 
whole  people."  None  of  these  things  surprise  us  when  we 
look  at  the  matter  from  this  point  of  view.  The  corollary 
we  have  mentioned  operates  all  too  disastrously  for  society. 

It  may  not  be  pleasant  to  think  of  our  great  "Captains 
of  industry"  as  mostly  currupt;  and  neither  is  it  pleasant  to 
think  of  society  being  in  the  power  of  the  most  knavish,  but  it 
is  best  to  know  the  truth,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 
tendency.  The  only  question  is  as  to  what  extent  the  tendency 
is  realized  in  its  effects.  For  just  as  sure  as  our  commercial 
life  is  a  game,  which  it  is ;  and  that  there  is  opportunity  to  play 
unfairly,  which  there  is ;  and  that  there  are  some  who  are  dis- 
posed to  play  unfairly,  which  there  are ;  just  so  surely  is  there  a 
tendency  for  the  unfair  players,  that. is  to  say,  the  tricksters, 
the  dishonest,  the  unprincipled,  the  unscrupulous,  the  rogues, 
to  rise  to  the  top.  Yes,  it  is  unpleasant  to  think  of  these 
things,  but  it  is  a  very  important,  a  very  serious  matter.  It 
shows  a  pressing  necessity  for  a  change  in  our  industrial  sys- 
tem. We  may  console  ourselves  that  every  rogue  at  the  top 
makes  one  less  among  those  further  down,  but  the  reflection 
doesn't  bring  much  comfort. 

And  what  are  the  motives  that  chiefly  prompt  the  actions 
of  the  trade  unionist?  To  this  we  say  first,  that  he  is  selfish. 
But  then,  as  Ruskin  says,  "He  need  not  see  any  particular 
uneasiness  about  that,  for  so  is  everybody  else."  The  num- 
ber of  extremely  selfish  at  the  top  tends,  of  course,  to  raise  the 
average  at  the  bottom,  but  the  number  at  the  top  is  so  rela- 
tively small  as  compared  with  the  numerous  throng  at  the 
bottom,  that  it  is  too  insignificant  to  be  worth  considering; 
and  so  when  the  cavilist  answers  everything  as  he  usually 
does  with  one  fell  swoop,  by  saying  with  an  air  of  triumph 
that  they  would  all  do  just  the  same  way  if  they  had  the 
opportunity,  we  say,  "Yes,  it  is  not  the  people  but  the  system 
that  is  to  blame."  Possibly  we  may  admit  a  little  too  much, 
but  if  the  working  classes  had  been  placed  in  the  environ- 
ment of  the  capitalist,  with  the  training  that  it  would  fur- 
nish, those  of  them  who  rose  to  the  top  would  probably  pre- 
sent just  about  the  same  spectacle  of  a  "job  lot"  as  those  now 
at  the  top.  It  is  not  accurately  true  to  say  that  all  the  middle 
class  or  all  the  rank  and  file  of  the  wage  workers  would  be  as 
bad  as  those  at  the  top.  But  that  is  neither  here  nor  there. 
Our  contention  is  against  the  system  that  tends  to  bring  out 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  165 

the  worst  that  is  in  each  individual  and  place  all  the  rest  of 
the  people  in  bondage  to  a  small  group  of  the  most  corrupt. 

The  average  working  man  is  a  stranger  to  the  tempta- 
tions to  gross  dishonesty  and  unscrupulous  rascality  which 
beset  the  great  capitalist.  .  Before  he  becomes  a  trade  unionist 
his  relation  to  his  employer  is  one  of  servility  and  self- 
abasement.  But  when  he  enters  a  union  that  relation  begins 
to  change.  It  often  proceeds  gradually  no  doubt,  but  finally 
it  comes  to  be  one  of  self-assertion  and  self-respect.  Social- 
ists recognize  this  as  the  most  important  benefit  derived  from 
trade  unions,  whatever  else  may  be  said  for  or  against  them. 

As  already  stated  the  trade  unionist  is  selfish.  He  tries 
to  get  the  most  he  can  for  himself.  In  order  to  do  this  he 
strikes.  He  ties  up  business.  Sometimes  the  tying  up  brings 
little  or  no  loss  to  the  employer,  as  in  the  case  where  a  factory 
has  enough  goods  on  hand  to  supply  the  market  for  a  long 
time.  In  such  a  case  the  strike  contiues  till  the  strikers  are 
starved  into  submission  to  the  employer's  terms,  and  it  serves 
as  a  lesson  against  striking  in  the  future  and  tends  to  hinder 
the  non-unionist  from  joining  the  union.  When  the  employers 
see  that  they  would  lose  too  heavily  by  the  "tie  up"  they 
make  concessions  and  the  work  is  resumed.  Then  the  work- 
ers are  said  to  have  gained  a  strike.  They  become  more  bold 
for  a  future  move  and  new  recruits  enter  their  ranks  and  the 
union  takes  a  stride  forward. 

In  the  past  there  were  so  few  unionists  and  so  many  non- 
unionists  with  which  to  break  the  strike  that  most  strikes 
were  lost.  But  recently  the  unions  have  become  so  strong, 
the  tie-ups  have  become  so  serious,  and  it  has  become  so  much 
more  difficult  to  "break  the  strike"  that  it  is  now  a  much  more 
serious  thing  to  the  employers.  The  most  serious  feature 
of  the  whole  matter,  from  the  capitalist  standpoint,  is  the 
fact  that  when  the  striker  fails,  he  is  easily  led  into  the 
thought  of  striking  at  the  ballot  box,  the  thing  that  the  capi- 
talist most  fears  and  dreads.  Socialists,  however,  recogniza 
in  this  the  key  to  his  final  triumph. 

The  unorganized  worker  complains,  the  capitalist  or  his 
emissary  often  putting  the  complaint  into  his  mouth,  that 
while  the  striker  has  a  perfect  right  to  refuse  to  work  he  has 
no  right  whatever  to  prevent  anyone  else  from  working  by 
intimidation  or  force.  But  the  employer  comes  in  and  enjoins 
him  from  using  even  persuasion  and  reason.  As  a  result  of 
these  contentions  it  is  not  strange  if  on  both  sides  many  things 
are  done  that  ought  not  to  be  done.  Knowing  that  the  press 
of  the  country  with  few  exceptions  is  in  league  with  capital, 
and  that  every  act  of  violence  on  the  part  of  the  strikers  will 
be  magnified  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  and  made  to  appear 


i66  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

against  them  in  its  most  flagrant  light,  the  union  leaders 
usually  use  every  effort  in  their  power  to  restrain  the  men 
from  violence  of  all  kinds,  especially  such  as  endangers  life 
or  works  great  damage  to  property.  And  it  would  be  very 
strange  indeed  if  reckless,  hot  headed,  unauthorized  members 
should  not  at  times  be  found  breaking  over  all  restraints. 
Not  having,  had  opportunity  to  observe  and  not  caring  to 
investigate  in  detail,  I  take  it  for  granted  that  there  have 
been  many  such  cases,  and  possibly  there  have  been  cases 
where  leaders  were  indiscreet  in  this  respect.  But  knowing 
the  tactics  of  their  opponents,  who  take  advantage  of  every 
little  slip  to  bring  them  into  disrepute  before  the  unor- 
ganized workers  and  the  great  middle  class  whom  they  are 
desirous  of  arraying  against  them,  it  seems  to  me  prepos- 
terous to  suppose  that  it  would  be  the  settled  policy  of  great 
organizations  to  walk  deliberately  into  the  net  that  is  set  for 
them. 

The  unionists  in  reply  to  the  non-unionists'  complaint, 
say  that  they  themselves  were  sacrificing  more  than  the 
strike  breakers  gained  in  a  struggle  which,  if  successful,  would 
make  conditions  better  for  themselves  directly,  and  indi- 
rectly better  for  the  non-unionists;  that  the  action  of 
the  strike  breakers  paralyzed  all  their  efforts,  and  that  if 
the  non-unionists  would  join  with  themselves  the  result  would 
be  greatly  improved  conditions  for  all  the  workers. 

The  middle  class  people,  especially  the  farmers,  also  lodge 
a  complaint  against  the  unionists.  They  admit  the  justice  of 
the  unionists'  claims  as  against  the  great  capitalists,  but  com- 
plain that  after  he  gets  the  lion's  share  nothing  is  left  for 
themselves.  To  which  the  unionist  replies  "Form  unions  of 
your  own  and  strike  for  your  rights." 

"But,"  returns  the  farmer,  "that  sounds  all  well  enough. 
W.  have  often  talked  of  farmers'  trusts,  but  the  trouble  is 
we  arc  dependent  on  so  many  other  trusts  that  are  backed 
by  all  tne  power  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  robbers  at  the 
top.  We  might  strike  for  higher  prices  for  our  produce,  but 
they  would  offset  our  action  and  bleed  us  through  the  banking 
trust,  the  railroad  trust,  the  machinery  trust,  the  warehouse 
trust,  the  sack  trust,  the  twine  trust,  and  the  packing  house 
trust  etc." 

"Then,"  continues  the  unionist,  "you  would  better  give 
up  your  small  business,  which  could  be  conducted  much  more 
profitably  on  a  larger  scale,  enter  the  ranks  with  us,  and  we 
will  all  strike  together  for  the  rights  of  all." 

Socialism  recognizes  the  potency  of  this  argument  from 
the  unionist,  but  insists  on  the  utter  foolishness  of  stopping 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  167 

with  anything  short  of  a  complete  dethronement  of  the  robbers 
at  the  top. 

No  doubt  the  action  of  the  labor  unions  sometimes  works 
a  hardship  on  the  old  who  are  living  upon  the  accumulations 
of  former  years,  on  the  farmer  class  especially,  and  possibly 
on  the  small  mercantile  classes.  The  big  capitalists  take 
advantage  of  this  and  seek  to  array  these  classes  against  the 
trade  unionists.  And  so  their  emissaries  pass  around  among 
the  people  patting  the  farmer  and  the  small  merchant  on  the 
back  and  saying,  "You  are  a  capitalist,  same  as  the  rest  of 
us.  You  ought  to  belong  to  our  Employers'  Association." 
But  if  they  are  wise  they  will  not  be  caught  by  such  cajoler- 
ies; for  they  should  know  that  so  long  as  the  robbers  at  the 
top  are  in  power  there  can  be  nothing  for  the  farmer  but 
fleecings,  and  nothing  for  the  small  dealer  but  to  be  crowded 
out  by  a  branch  house  of  a  great  corporation. 

Next  let  uc  consider  briefly  a  few  of  the  great  struggles 
between  organized  capital  and  organized  labor.  In  nearly  all 
these  there  is  more  or  less  crime  or  malicious  mischief  com- 
mitted. As  before  intimated,  capitalists  have  been  accused  of 
committing  these,  or  hiring  it  done,  for  the  purpose  of  charg- 
ing it  to  the  unions  and  bringing  them  into  disrepute.  Evi- 
dently this  might  often  be  profitable  to  them,  and  i.  would  be 
comparatively  easy,  .because  of  the  small  number  of  capital- 
ists interested,  and  where  part  of  them  are  too  honorable, 
the  interest  of  one  or  a  very  few  who  are  corrupt  would  often 
be  sufficient  incentive. 

Labor  Troubles  in  the  West.  In  the  Rocky  Mountain 
states  a  battle  royal  has  been  waged  for  several  years.  The 
contending  parties  are  the  Mine  Owners'  Association,  a  well 
defined  organization  having  branches  in  all  the  quartz  mining 
states,  and  strengthened  by  the  backing  of  the  smelter  trust, 
confronted  by  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  organized 
in  1893  with  2,000  members  and  now  60,000  strong. 

The  latter  have  conducted  a  considerable  number  of 
strikes,  among  which  was  the  famous  Coeur  d'Alene  strike 
of  1899  in  northern  Idaho.  Here  the  bull  pen  was  first  intro- 
duced in  the  West.  Some  miners  were  accused  of  destroying 
property.  They  retorted  saying  that  the  mine  owners  them- 
selves, through  the  Pinkertons,  destroyed  some  almost  worth- 
less property  for  the  purpose  of  charging  it  to  the  striker's. 
The  mine  owners  applied  to  Governor  Frank  Steunenberg  for 
assistance,  who  in  turn  called  on  the  National  Government 
for  troops.  General  Merriam  with  a  force  of  negro  soldiers 
was  sent  in  response,  and  the  miners'  organization  was 
destroyed  by  force.  Using  the  language  of  George  H.  Shoaf, 
"More"  than  a  thousand  men  were  rounded  up  like  cattle,  and 


1 68  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

herded  into  an  open  plain,  where,  surrounded  by  human  har- 
pies, they  were  subjected'  to  a  brutal  persecution  such  as 
Andersonville  and  Libby  never  knew." 

In  1903,  in  the  Cripple  Creek  district,  San  Miguel  County, 
Colorado,  occurred  the  last  great  strike.  The  miners  claim 
that  it  was  not  desired  by  either  the  officers  or  members  of 
the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  but  that  it  was  forced  upon 
them  by  the  Mine  Owners'  Association,  who  were  deter- 
mined to  destroy  the  union  as  they  had  done  in  Idaho. 

A  little  before  this  movement,  the  Western  Federation 
of  Miners  had,  in  their  general  convention,  adopted  the  princi- 
ples of  International  Socialism.  It  spent  money  for  the  edu- 
cation of  its  members  in  the  new  political  faith,  and  its 
leaders,  especially  Moyer,  Haywood  and  the  members  of  the 
Executive  Council,  became  bold  and  fearless  advocates  of  this 
new  doctrine  of  industrial  emancipation.  This  progressive 
policy  made  it  superior  to  any  labor  organization  in  the  world ; 
and  this,  it  is  claimed,  together  with  the  defiant  attitude  of 
its  leaders,  determined  the  Mine  Owners'  Association  to 
exterminate  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  root  and 
branch. 

Our  limited  space  forbids  the  rehearsal  of  so  long  a  story 
which  has  been  given  at  length  by  George  H.  Shoaf  and  other 
writers  through  the  Socialist  papers,  and  corroborated  by 
''Report  of  the  Labor  Troubles  in  Colorado,"  made  by  Labor 
Commissioner  Carroll  D.  Wright,  a  copy  of  which  I  have 
before  me,  and  I  wish  that  every  reader  would  procure  one 
and  examine  it  thoroughly;  and  please  remember  that  Mr. 
Wright  is  a  Republican  and  that  you  are  not  getting  from  his 
report  simply  the  Socialist  version.  Space  forbids  more 
than  a  brief  comment,  but  let  us  observe  a  few  important 
points : 

The  various  parties  that  figured  in  the  recent  Colorado 
strike  troubles,  were,  I,  the  union  miners;  2,  the  non-union 
miners;  3,  the  mine  owners  and  smelters;  4,  the  Citizens' 
Alliance ;  5,  the  Pinkertons,  and  6,  the  Governor  and  military. 

It  is  well  to  consider  here  the  various  viewpoints  and 
motives  of  these  several  parties. 

The  principal  parties  in  the  struggle  were  the  union 
miners,  principally  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  on 
the  one  side,  and  the  Mine  Owners7  Association  on  the 
other.  The  interests  of  these  two  classes  were  directly 
opposed  to  each  other.  The  mine  owners  were  in  it  for  profit 
and  regarded  it  as  their  right  to  get  labor  as  cheaply  as  pos- 
sible. The  miners  on  the  other  hand,  claimed  the  right  to 
get  the  highest  possible  wage.  The  mine  owners'  and  smelters' 
claim  of  benevolence  is,  on  the  face  of  it,  about  as  hypocriti- 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  169 

cal  as  the  oily  speeches  that  fall  from  the  lips  of  plutocratic 
orators  in  which  it  is  asserted  that  "the  interests  of  capital 
and  labor  are  identical."  Take  the  following  from  Wright's 
report  page  139: 

"On  July  5,  Manager  Guiterman  issued  to  the  public  a  statement 
from  which  the  following  extracts  are  taken: 

"  'Speaking  for  this  company,  I  desire  to  say  that  it  has  at  all  times 
had  the  interests  of  its  employees  at  heart,  and  that  it  has  hitherto 
spared  no  expense  by  and  through  which  the  sanitary,  operating  con- 
ditions' at  its  various  plants  could  be  improved  and  the  nature  of  the 
work  lightened.'  " 

If  it  is  really  true  that  a  great  corporation  had  the  inter- 
ests of  its  employees  at  heart,  it  was  certainly  a  new  thing 
under  the  sun. 

The  other  three  classes  mentioned  were,  for  the  most  part, 
subject  to  the  Mine  Owners'  Association.  We  will  now  con- 
sider what  seems  to  me  the  most  important  factor  bearing 
upon  the  views,  motives  and  finally  upon  the  actions  of  these 
several  parties,  especially  the  union  miners,  mine  owners  and 
Citizens'  Alliance.  That  factor  is  Socialism. 

i .  The  Influence  of  Socialism  on  the  Western  Federation 
of  Miners.  In  the  struggle  between  capital  and  labor  the 
latter  usually  admits  the  right  of  the  former  to  a  "fair  profit ;" 
but  just  what  constitutes  a  fair  profit  often  comes  in  as  a  bone 
of  contention ;  and  besides,  labor  has  come  to  question  the 
reported  profits  of  capital.  But  Socialism  teaches  that  the 
laborer  is  entitled  to  the  full  product  of  his  toil.  This  cuts 
all  profit  entirely  out  of  the  question.  As  -early  as  1902, 
Socialism  became  a  ruling  force  in  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners.  And  so  the  miners  began  to  talk  its  principles  in 
connection  with  their  struggle  with  the  mine  owners  for  a 
larger  share  of  the  product.  They  began  to  talk  of  their 
moral  right  to  the  whole  product,  and  expressed  their  inten- 
tion of  continuing  the  struggle  till  they  should  get  it.  This, 
of  course,  does  not  mean  that  those  who  have  labored  in  the 
production  of  the  capital  shall  be  left  out  of  consideration,  but, 
of  course,  this  is  the  construction  which  the  opponents  of 
Socialism  put  upon  it  and  worked  for  all  it  was  worth.  And 
here  the  struggle  began  in  earnest.  Strictly  speaking  the 
miners  were  right.  The  moral  principle  that  the  laborer  is 
entitled  to  the  full  product  of  his  toil  is  just  as  true  under 
capitalism  as  it  will  be  under  Socialism.  We  cannot  blame 
the  unionist,  but  in  reality,  when  he  insists  on  the  applica- 
tion of  this  Socialistic  principle  in  the  settlement  between  him 
and  his  employer,  he  is  but  sewing  new  cloth  on  an  old 
garment  and  we  must  not  think  strange  if  the  "rent  is  made 
worse."  The  fact  is  the  capitalistic  garment  is  so  woefully 
rotten  that  any  attempt  at  patchwork,  especially  when  the 


i;o  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

patch  is  of  a  radically  moral  nature,  must  generally  result 
disastrously.  The  more  I  study  the  subject  the  more  I  become 
convinced  that  the  best  plan  is  to  carry  forward  the  work  of 
education  as  rapidly  as  possible  till  a  majority  favor  Social- 
ism, and  then  make  the  transition  at  once. 

Capitalism  must  have  profits  and  cannot  exist  without 
them.  Any  elimination  of  profits  means  the  elimination  of 
capitalism,  and  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  this  must  be  a 
national  affair.  If  under  capitalism  all  profits  should  he  sud- 
denly cut  off,  then,  practically  all  wage  production  would 
cease,  and  before  it  could  start  forward,  there  would  have  to 
be  a  change  of  possession  and  management.  The  advocacy  of 
Socialism  by  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  set  the  pot  to 
boiling. 

2.  The  Influence  of  Socialism  on  the  Mine  Owners  and 
Smelters.     The  effect  on  these  could  be  nothing  but  that  of 
alarm,  coupled  with  a  determination  not  to  be  beaten.     No 
doubt  most  of  these,  perhaps  nearly  all  of  them,  are  too  aristo- 
cratic  to    imbibe    Socialistic   principles   and   are    disposed   to 
regard  Socialism  as  a  dangerous  enemy.     Even  if  they  under- 
stand the  righteousness  of  Socialism,  like  nearly  all  those  pos- 
sessed of  great  wealth  they  are  too  much  intoxicated  by  its 
possession  to  be  willing  to  yield  the  power  it  gives.     They 
set  to  work  among  the  middle  class  citizens. 

3.  The  Influence  of  Socialism  on  Those  Who  Became 
Members   of   the   Citizen's   Alliance.     No    doubt   there   were 
many  of  these  who  would  have  taken  well  toward  Socialism 
if  it  had  been  properly  and  honestly  presented;  but  this  was 
not  to  be.     Here  was  an  opportunity  for  the  opponents  of 
Socialism  to  present  it  in  a  distorted  form.     The  customs  of 
society  have  so  deeply  ground  into  the  minds  of  all  holders 
of  private  property  the  principle  of  "vested  rights,"  that  we 
are  apt  to  cling  to  it,  even  after  we  have  reasoned  ourselves 
out  of  it.     "Is  not  this  mine?     Did  I  not  work  for  it?     Man- 
age, buy  and  sell,  trade,  save  my  earnings  and  my  profits? 
Was  it  not  all  made  honestly  and  legitimately,  and  have  I  not 
the  right  to  do  as  I  please  with  my  own,  to  conduct  my  own 
business  as  I  please?    Must  I  submit  to  the  dictation  of  those 
who,  perhaps,  have  squandered  their  substance  in  riotous  liv- 
ing, or  have  been  too  lazy  to  work  or  too  improvident  to  save 
their  earnings?    Shall  they  be  permitted  to  come  in  and  share 
equally  with  me  in  what  has  cost  me  so  much  pains  to  accu- 
mulate?    Never,  while  I  have  power  to  resist.     Why,  there 
is  neighbor  A:    He  has  worked  hard  all  his  life ;  now  he  is  too 
old  to  work ;  but  he  has  saved  enough  to  enable  him  to  own 
a  nice  little  business,  so  that  he  can  hire  a  man  or  two  at  fail- 
wages  and  have  a  very  nice  living  for  his  family;  but  now  if 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  171 

the  laborer  must  have  the  'whole  product/  there  is  nothing  but 
starvation  for  him,  for  he  is  unable  to  work."  And  thus  with 
misrepresentation,  distorted  reasoning,  specious  argument, 
taking  the  principles  of  Socialism  out  of  their  proper  con- 
nection and  tacking  them  on  to  our  present  system,  the  whole 
question  of  Socialism  with  all  its  grand  principles  of  justice, 
economy,  benevolence,  and  moral,  intellectual  and  social  uplift, 
dwindles  into  a  mere  quibble,  and  many  a  would-be  Socialist 
is  turned  away  in  disgust. 

To  show  that  the  members  of  the  Citizens'  Alliance  were 
further  increased  by  bulldozing  methods,  we  refer  the  reader 
to  Commissioner  Wright's  report,  pp.  49-50: 

The  motives  of  the  military  and  the  Pinkertons  were  mer- 
cenary. Governor  Peabody  and  other  civil  and  military  state 
officials  were  on  hand  to  do  the  bidding  of  those  on  whom  they 
depended  to  keep  them  in  office.  The  Pinkertons  are  them- 
selves a  criminal  class  that  fatten  off  the  crimes  of  others, 
and  it  is  well  known  that  they  do  not  hesitate,  when  the 
criminal  slop  becomes  too  thin  to  suit  them,  to  set  about 
instituting  methods  that  will  produce  more  crime.  And  why 
should  they?  They  are  in  it  for  what  they  can  get  out  of 
it,  and  the  most  money  is  in  manufacturing  crime  to  the  order 
of  those  who  need  it  in  their  business  and  who  have  the  money 
to  pay  for  it. 

In  examining  the  Colorado  situation  as  shown  by  this 
report  I  am  just  a  little  surprised  at  the  criminal  daring  and 
cheekiness  of  the  plutocratic  forces  in  the  struggle.  My 
surprise  is  not  great.  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  at  the  mere 
fact  that  crime  has  been  committed  by  those  high  in  authority, 
for  I  know  that  one  of  the  effects  of  capitalism  is  to  keep  a 
large  force  trained  ready  to  commit  any  crime  that  offers  a 
sufficient  reward  to  pay  for  the  risk.  I  have  studied  the  ten- 
dency of  the  criminal  element  to  rise  to  the  top  financially.  I 
understand  how  easy  a  prey  are  the  civil  governments,  both 
national  and  state,  to  those  plutocratic  vultures.  I  also  have 
some  understanding  of  the  ease  with  which  those  in  control 
of  the  "powers  that  be"  may  make  use  of  those  powers  in 
reducing  to  the  minimum,  the  risks  of  committing  crime.  I, 
therefore,  am  not  at  all  surprised  at  the  mere  fact  of  crime 
in  these  quarters,  but  I  am  a  little  surprised  at  the  shameless 
brazenness  with  which  the  mine  owners,  supported  by  the 
civil  and  military  authorities,  conducted  their  infamous  cam- 
paign of  crime.  I  am  a  little  surprised  to  find  this  report 
reading  so  much  like  mediaeval  history. 

But  there  is  one  point  indicated  in  this  report  that  sur- 
prises me  very  much  and  that  is  the  decidedly  peaceful  atti- 
tude of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  under  the  most  pro- 


172  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

yoking  and  exasperating-  circumstances.  There  had  been,  it 
appears,  some  cases  of  violence  among  the  .union  men  prior 
to  1903,  all  of  which  were  strongly  disapproved  and  censured 
by  the  unions  as  is  shown  on  page  91,  relating  to  the  strike 
at  Leadville  in  1897. 

In  1899  there  was  a  strike  of  Italians  at  Lake  City.  These 
were  members  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  and  seem 
to  have  been  guilty  of  violations  of  the  law,  but  they  were 
forced  to  leave  by  the  action  of  the  mine  owners.  There  was 
also  a  strike  in  1901  at  Telluride  in  which,  under  great  provo- 
cation, there  were  violations  of  law  by  members  of  the 
W.  F.  M.,  which  were  disapproved  by  the  union  in  the  articles 
of  settlement  with  the  mining  company.  These  violations 
were  nothing  more  than  might  have  been  expected,  and  yet 
they  were  recognized  by  the  unions  as  being  disastrous  to 
their  cause.  They  were  cautioned  by  the  leaders,  especially 
by  President  Moyer,  who  implored  them  to  be  very  careful  not 
to  commit  any  acts  of  violence.  Accordingly,  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  strike  of  1903-4,  the  peaceable  attitude  of  the  Fed- 
eration men  during  the  long  stormy  period  of  persecution  that 
followed,  is  a  marvel  of  patient  forbearance  that  it  would  be 
hard  to  duplicate.  True  there  seems  to  have  been  a  very 
few  minor  offences  committed  by  individual  members.  These 
occurred  mostly  in  efforts  to  drive  away  non-union  men  who 
were  used  in  breaking  the  strike.  In  such  cases  the  tempta- 
tion of  the  striker  to  do  this  is  very  strong,  and,  looking  from 
his  point  of  view,  he  is  apt  to  justify  himself  in  doing  it. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  report,  however,  to  indicate  gross 
violations  of  the  law  on  the  part  of  union  men,  excepting  in 
the  riot  that  occurred  at  Victor  just  after  the  Independence 
horror,  and  according  to  the  report  this  was  caused  partly  by 
a  mistake  and  certainly  more  by  the  fault  of  members  of  the 
Mine  Owners'  Association  than  by  the  Federation  men.  The 
attempt  of  their  enemies  to  fasten  upon  them  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  Independence  outrage  failed,  and  to  some  extent 
reacted  upon  themselves.  See  Wright's  Report,  pp.  247-53;, 
also  pp.  253-6. 

It  seems  to  me  that  any  one  who  reads  this  report  care- 
fully and  impartially  can  hardly  help  agreeing  with  William  D. 
Haywood,  who  in  answer  to  the  mouthings  of  Governor  Pea- 
body  about  insurrection,  said  that,  "If  the  Governor  would 
go  and  hang  himself  the  principal  insurgent  would  be  dead," 

The  confession  of  H.  H.  McKinney  shows  the  role  which 
the  Pinkertons  played.  It  is  said  that  they  were  so  thick  and 
so  busily  engaged  in  spying  on  the  unions  that  in  one  instance 
two  of  them,  each  unknown  to  the  other,  having  worked  their 
way  into  the  union  and  been  appointed  as  organizers,  were 


THE    CLASS    STRUGGLE  173 

each  watching  the  other,  thinking  the  other  a  genuine  union 
man.  It  was  a  rich  and  promising  field  for  the  detective.  All 
that  was  needed  was  a  few  skillfully  planned  and  executed 
murders  of  the  first  magnitude,  excitement  and  party  feeling 
would  do  the  rest.  Considering  all  the  circumstances  I  think 
it  even  more  likely  that  the  murder  of  Manager  Collins  was 
a  detective  intrigue  than  that  it  was  the  act  of  some  one  of  the 
many  unionists  whom  he  had  exasperated  by  his  unjust  and 
high  handed  measures. 

Whatever  the  reader  may  think  of  this  Colorado  situation 
generally,  there  are  three  very  important  points  which,  it  seems 
to  me,  must  be  clear  to  every  thinking  person.  These  are : 

1.  That  the  whole  trouble  is  a  natural  product  of  our 
present  economic  system. 

2.  That  this  report  does  not  indicate  that  the  Western 
Federation  of  Miners'  leaders  in  general,  nor  Moyer,  Haywood 
and  Pettibone,  in  particular,  adopted  a  criminal  policy;  but  in 
fact  it  shows  the  opposite.     The  situation  as  here  revealed 
shows   clearly  that  such   a  policy  would  be  very  foolish  on 
their  part,  and  a  rehearsal   of  the  facts  shows  that  they  so 
recognized  it  and  that  in  this  respect  they  were  not  indis- 
creet. 

3.  That  the  fear  of  and  opposition  to  the  principles  of 
Socialism  was  the  main  impelling  motive  that  prompted  the 
Mine  Owners'  Association  and  the  Citizens'  Alliance  in  their 
criminal  action,  and  that  the  whole  affair  of  1903-4  was  princi- 
pally  a   persecution   of   the    Western    Federation   of    Miners 
because  of  their  Socialistic  tenets.    In  proof  of  this  we  cite  the 
reader   to   Commissioner   Wright's   report;   pp.   41-42,   49-50, 
291-2,  328-9;  and  from  these  we  quote  briefly  as  follows: 

"However,  the  operators  have  had  no  negotiations  whatever  with 
the  Federation,  nor  will  they  unless  unionism,  and  not  Socialism,  becomes 
the  controlling  consideration  in  that  organization.  We  are  not  knowingly 
employing  any  members  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  because  we 
do  not  believe  that  we  can  afford  to  allow  a  branch  of  that  organization 
to  become  re-established  in  this  district  while  the  Socialistic  element  in 
the  organization  continues  to  direct  it  policies." — One  of  the  mine  mana- 
gers. See  Wright's  Reports,  p.  292. 

"Not  only  as  individuals,  but  as  an  organization,  the  Citizens' 
Alliance  actively  supported  the  policy  of  the  Mine  Owners'  Association 
of  refusing  employment  to  any  member  of  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners,  and  also  the  policy  of  deporting  all  members  of  the  Federation. 
The  alliance  and  the  association  alleged  that  the  Federation  was  a 
'Socialistic  and  criminal  organization,'  and  therefore,  that  their  attitude 
toward  it  was  justifiable." — Wright's  Report,  pp.  29-50. 

When  we  examine  these  carefully,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
progress  of  Socialism  was  and  is  the  one  particular  thing 
dreaded  by  the  Mine  Owners'  Association  and  that  they  sought 
to  divide  the  ranks  of  labor  and  prejudice  as  many  as  pos- 


174  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

sible  of  all  classes  against  Socialism,  by  parading  before  the 
mind  all  the  incongruity,  both  apparent  and  real,  that  would 
result,  from  applying  its  principles  in  our  capitalistic  society. 

The  looting  of  the  W.  F.  M.  Co-operative  stores  by  the 
Citizens'  Alliance,  I  think,  may  be  taken  as  an  additional  mani- 
festation of  the  opposition  to  Socialism;  for  they  were  cer- 
tainly the 'result  of  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  W.  F.  M.  to 
realize  some  of  the  economies  of  Socialism. 

The  next  important  movement  in  this  great  struggle  was 
the  unlawful  kidnapping  of  the  W.  F.  M.  officers,  Charles 
Moyer,  President;  William  D.  Hay  wood,  Secretary -Treasurer ; 
and  George  A.  Pettibone,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, at  Denver  on  February  17,  1906,  by  the  conspiracy  of 
the  officials  of  Idaho  and  Colorado,  aided  by  Pinkerton  detec- 
tives. 

The  crime  with  which  they  were  charged  was  that  of  the 
murder  of  ex-Governor  Frank  Steunenberg,  of  Idaho,  who  was 
killed  by  the  explosion  of  an  infernal  machine  at  his  front 
yard  gate  in  the  town  of  Caldwell,  Idaho,  on  the  night  of 
December  30,  1905. 

The  facts  of  this  kidnapping  conspiracy  are  too  well 
known  to  require  more  than  a  mention.  For  more  than  four- 
teen months  these  men  have  been  confined  in  jail,  and  now,  as 
the  time  set  for  trial  approaches,  it  is  enough  to  make  one's 
flesh  creep,  so  much  is  it  like  the  coiling  of  a  snake  around 
its  victim,  to  read  an  article  such  as  now  lies  before  me,  which 
is  but  a  sample  of  hundreds  that  are  paraded  before  the  public. 

This  article  was  written  from  Boise,  Idaho,  under  date 
of  May  4,  1907,  in  anticipation  of  the  approaching  trial.  Con- 
cerning the  false  affidavit  by  which  the  Federation  leaders 
were  extradited,  the  writer  says  that  "though  false,  it  is 
nevertheless  true  as  a  compliance  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of 
the  statute  according  to  the  officers  of  the  state." 

The  statement  may  be  true  "according  to  the  officers  of 
the  state,"  but  the  trouble  is  they  are  liars  when  they  say  that 
the  affidavit  was  "true  as  a  compliance  with  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  statute,"  unless  it  be  that  a  statement  can  be 
false  and  yet  true  at  the  same  time.  "True  as  a  compliance 
with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  statute."  How  can  that  be? 
Oh,  I  see  now!  The  lawmakers  manage  to  jumble  words 
together  so  that  they  may  mean  almost  anything;  and  the 
lawbreakers  just  juggle  the  words,  breathe  into  them  what- 
ever spirit  they  please;  and  so,  when  it  is  desired  to  proceed 
against  laboring  men,  a  false  affidavit  will  answer  the  pur- 
pose, for  it  can  be  interpreted  to  be  "true  as  a  compliance 
with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  statute." 

I   have  not   examined  the   Idaho  statute,  but  I   suppose 


GOVERNMENTAL  ALIGNMENT  WITH  WEALTH  175 

they  must  have  it  fixed  up  that  way  somehow.  It  used  to  be 
that  a  statement  that  was  false,  was  false  sure  enough,  and 
that  was  all  there  was  to  it.  Now  it  is  different.  Now  it  all 
depends  on  interpretation  and  construction.  It  is  wonderful 
what  they  can  do  these  days?  Wonderful!  It  all  depends 
on  the  officials.  If  they  understand  their  business  they  can  do 
almost  anything  and  it  is  all  right.  In  the  olden  time  it  was 
taught  that  "the  king  can  do  no  wrong;"  but  in  our  modern 
society  the  quality  of  infallibility  extends  to  all  officials  who 
have  in  their  foreheads  the  mark  of  the  beast  of  Capitalism. 

Continuing,  the  writer  says  that  the  result  was  a  victory 
for  the  state.  Yes,  it  was  a  victory  for  the  party  in  power 
in  Idaho.  It  was  a  decided  victory  for  capitalism ;  but  like 
many  another  victory  recorded  in  history,  it  is  apt  to  prove 
its  greatest  defeat.  The  writer  of  the  article  is  surely  not 
so  ignorant  as  not  to  know  that  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  admitted  that  it  was  a  kidnapping  "in  defiance  of  all 
constitutional  right,"  but  held  the  imbecilic  position  that  the 
possession  of  the  bodies  of  the  defendants,  though  illegally 
acquired,  was  legal.  As  to  the  methods  of  gaining  possession 
of  the  defendants,  the  officials  were  black  conspirators  and 
criminals,  but  once  in  their  possession,  that  possession  was 
legal.  This  is  very  difficult  for  us  to  comprehend,  who  are  not 
versed  in  interpretations  and  constructions  and  juggling  of 
statutes.  And  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  compre- 
hend. All  we  need  to  know  is  that  it  can  be  done,  and  when 
it  is  done  we  should  acquiesce  quietly,  like  good  (desirable) 
citizens,  and  not  go  bleating  around  that  the  prisoners  were 
kidnapped  in  defiance  of  all  constitutional  right,  lest  we  also 
become  "undesirable"  citizens. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  conclusion  relative  to  the  merits 
of  the  Moyer-Haywood  case,  it  is  not  by  any  means  vital  to 
Socialism.  The  whole  trouble,  as  well  as  all  similar  troubles, 
is  the  result  of  a  defect  in  our  present  system,  that  argues 
very  strongly  for  its  abolition,  provided  there  can  be  found 
a  better  system  to  take  its  place;  and  such  a  system  we  con- 
fidently insist  has  already  been  outlined  in  Socialism. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
GOVERNMENTAL  ALIGNMENT  WITH  WEALTH. 

And  whatever  one  may  think  of  the  merits  of  the  Mover- 
Haywood  case,  so  far  as  the  actual  guilt  or  innocence  of  the 
accused  parties  is  concerned,  it  helps  to  illustrate  a  fact  already 
well  known,  that  nearly  all  our  governmental  machinery,  both 
state  and  national,  is  but  a  tool  of  capitalism. 


176  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

To  get  this  well  before  the  mind,  we  insert  here  a  portion  of 
Justice  McKenna's  dissenting  opinion. 

In  the  case  at  bar  the  states,  through  their  officers,  are  the  offen- 
ders. They,  by  an  illegal  exertion  of  power,  deprived  the  accused  of  a 
constitutional  right.  The  distinction  is  important  to  be  observed.  It 
finds  expression  in  Mahon  vs.  Justice.  But  it  does  not  need  emphasizing. 
Kidnapping  is  a  crime,  pure  and  simple.  It  is  difficult  to  accomplish ; 
hazardous  at  every  step.  All  of  the  officers  of  the  law  are  supposed 
to  be  on  guard  against  it.  All  of  the  officers  of  the  law  may  be  invoked 
against  it.  But  how  is  it  when  the  law  becomes  the  kidnapper?  When 
the  officers  of  the  law,  using  its  forms  and  exerting  its  power,  become 
abductors?  This  is  not  a  distinction  without  a  difference — another  form 
of  the  crime  of  kidnapping  distinguished  only  from  that  committed  by 
an  individual  by  circumstances.  If  a  state  may  say  to  one  within  her 
borders  and  upon  whom  her  process  is  served,  I  will  not  inquire  how 
you  came  here ;  I  must  execute  my  laws  and  remit  you  to  proceedings 
against  those  who  have  wronged  you,  may  she  so  plead  against  her 
own  offenses?  May  she  claim  that  by  mere  physical  presence  within 
her  borders  an  accused  person  is  within  her  jurisdiction  denuded  of  his 
constitutional  rights,  though  he  has  been  brought  there  by  her  violence? 

Talk  about  your  Dred  Scott  decisions !  But  why  comment  ? 
This  document  is  a  commentary  of  itself,  and  ought  to  be 
framed  and  hung  in  every  home,  in  every  office,  in  every  public 
hall,  in  every  place  where  man  doth  congregate. 

It  presents  a  sectional  view  of  our  civil  government.  Per- 
haps an  observation  taken  at  this  point  reveals  more  plainly 
than  at  most  other  points  the  nature  of  the  government  and  so 
does  more  toward  answering  the  question  that  naturally  arises 
in  the  mind  of  the  student,  as  to  whether  our  government  is  a 
democracy  or  a  plutocracy.  The  observation  taken  here  reveals 
very  clearly  the  fact  that  it  is  a  plutocracy;  and  I  think  it  will 
be  found  that  if  observations  taken  at  other  points  do  not  show 
this  so  plainly  it  is  because  they  do  not  reveal  so  much ;  and  that 
all  they  do  reveal  points  in  the  same  direction. 

Observations  made  at  two  other  simliar  points  reveal  very 
different  phenomena,  but  go  to  prove  the  same  thing,  namely, 
that  is  a  plutocracy. 

I  refer  first  to  the  case  that  has  been  so  well  aired  by  the 
Appeal  to  Reason  and  other  Socialist  papers,  that  of  ex-Gov- 
ernor Taylor  who  was  charged  with  the  murder  of  Goebel  of 
.  Kentucky,  and  fled  from  the  state  after  the  crime  was  com- 
mitted. A  requisition  for  his  return  could  be  made  out  with  a 
true  affidavit  showing  him  to  be  a  fugitive  from  justice — no 
need  of  an  Idaho  prosecutor  to  swear  to  a  lie. 

Was  the  requisition  honored  ?  No.  And  why  not  ?  Was 
there  any  difference  .in  the  crimes  charged?  No.  Both  were 
the  blackest  of  crimes — cold  blooded  murder.  Was  there  any 
difference  in  the  personnel  of  the  meri  ?  Practically  none.  Both 
were  men  of  brains,  men  of  recognized  intelligence.  Was  there 
any  difference  in  the  social  standing?  Not  to  speak  of.  Both 


GOVERNMENTAL  ALIGNMENT  WITH  WEALTH  177 

were  recognized  leaders  among  men.  Why,  then,  was  the  requi- 
sition based  on  an  affidavit  known  to  be  false  honored,  while 
that  based  on  a  true  affidavit  was  dishonored?  There  must 
surely  be  a  difference  somewhere. 

Yes,  there  is  a  difference.  It  is  true  that  both  are  leaders 
of  their  respective  classes ;  and  this  suggests  the  difference.  The 
one  was  a  rich  man,  a  capitalist,  a  political  advocate  of  capitalist 
politics,  and  affiliated  with  the  capitalist  class.  The  others  were 
poor  men,  wage-workers,  political  advocates  of  working  class 
politics,  and  affiliated  with  the  working  class. 

A  comparison  of  the  phenomena  revealed  by  these  two 
sectional  views  shows  conclusively  that  we  are  being  pluto- 
cratically  governed. 

The  other  case  is  related  by  the  Appeal  to  Reason  as 
follows : 

"Julius  Beiser,  who,  being  under  indictment  for  various  swindling, 
operations,  was  kidnapped  February  14,  1907,  by  Deputy  Sheriff  Andrew 
Earnest,  of  Lima,  Ohio,  and  taken  from  Cincinnati  to  Allen  County,, 
where  he  was  wanted.  What  happened?  Federal  Judge  Thompson  of 
Cincinnati  (at  request  of  the  Bridge  Trust,  which  has  gone  into  volun- 
tary bankruptcy  to  escape  being  held  financially  responsible  for  its  swind- 
ling operations,)  ordered  the  Sheriff  to  release  Beiser,  and  cited  the 
officer  to  appear  before  the  Judge  and  answer  a  charge  of  contempt 
This  threat  of  Federal  Judge  Thompson  failed  to  secure  the  release  of 
the  Bridge  Trust's  agent.  Then  what  did  the  Federal  Judge  do?  He 
wired  the  Sheriff  as  follows :  Tf  indictment  against  Beiser  is  nolled  you 
need  not  appear  before  me  in  contempt.'  The  Federal  Judge,  in  plain 
words,  said  to  the  kidnapping  Sheriff:  'Release  your  victim  dismiss  the 
charge  against  him,  and  you  will  not  have  to  answer  the  charge  of  con- 
tempt.' The  Judge  used  his  position  to  secure  the  release  of  a  man 
wanted  in  Allen  County,  Ohio,  who,  by  the  same  tactics  employed  in 
the  Moyer-Haywood  case,  was  dragged  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court  in  which  he  has  been  indicted." 

What  the  merits  of  this  case  are  is  of  no  particular  value, 
but  it  furnishes  another  sectional  view  similar  to  the  Moyer- 
Haywood  case,  in  that  the  indicted  person  was  brought  into  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  court  by  kidnapping.  The  phenomena  we 
wish  to  compare  is  the  different  actions  of  the  Judges  in  the  two 
cases.  In  the  one  case  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
refuses  habeas  corpus  to  the  indicted  persons,  and  in  the  other 
Federal  Judge  Thompson,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  orders  the  release 
of  the  indicted  person. 

And  again  we  ask,  what  was  the  difference  in  the  two 
cases  that  caused  such  a  difference  in  the  actions  of  the  two 
courts?  Was  it  a  difference  in  the  courts  themselves?  Well, 
we  should  hardly  think  so.  True,  one  is  higher  in  authority,  but 
a  Federal  Judge  in  a  great  city  like  Cincinnati  is  a  man  high 
up  in  authority,  and  we  may  reasonably  expect  his  action  to  be 
not  very  different  from  that  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Was  it  a 
difference  in  the  manner  of  the  arrest?  No.  Both  arrests  were 


178  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

illegal.  Both  were  kidnapped.  The  difference  then,  must  be  in 
the  men.  What  was  the  difference  in  the  men  ?  we  ask ;  and  the 
answer  comes  back  in  thunder  tones  or  in  whispers  low,  it 
doesn't  matter  which,  but  the  answer  comes  back ;  "the  one 
ordered  released  was  a  capitalist;  the  others  ordered  held  in 
chains,  were  poor  workingmen."  And  again  we  have  the  same 
conclusion,  that  we  are  plutocratically  governed. 

Another  alarmingly  illustrative  point  in  the  Moyer-Hay- 
wood  case  is  found  in  the  illegal  manner  in  which  the  arrest 
was  made,  showing  to  what  extent  officers  of  the  law  may  vio- 
late the  law  without  being  held  responsible.  Unlawful  injunc- 
tions and  illegal  and  arbitrary  exactions  have  become  of  such 
frequent  occurrence  that  they  have  come  to  be  taken  as  a  matter 
of  course,,  so  that  a  Madden,  an  inferior  officer  of  the  Postal 
Department,  may  arbitrarily  abridge  the  freedom  of  the  press  by 
unjust  rulings,  as  he  did  with  both  Wilshire's  and  the  Appeal 
to  Reason,  without  being  even  questioned  by  his  superiors.  And 
when  an  official  is  beaten  he  simply  retreats  in  good  order  with- 
out any  reparation  being  made  to  the  injured  party  or  suffering 
any  penalty  for  his  violations  of  law  however  flagrant.  It 
would  require  volumes  to  rehearse  the  many  official  violations 
of  law  in  this  country  that  are  continually  winked  at,  and  in 
nearly  all  cases  they  are  committed  by  the  wealthy,  or  by  those 
who  seek  to  please  them.  Almost  invariably  they  point  to  the 
fact  that  wealth  rules. 

But  we  need  not  confine  ourselves  to  the  consideration  of 
sectional  views.  Just  think  for  a  moment  of  the  United  States 
Senate,  that  august  body  of  millionaires.  Where  is  the  man  so 
ignorant  that  he  needs  to  be  told,  and  who.  so  blind  that  he  has 
not  seen  many  of  them  "get  there."  A  comparison  of  notes 
"shows  that,  allowing  for  exceptions  and  details,  the  story  of  one 
is  the  story  of  all. 

And  as  we  contemplate  all  these  things  there  come  crowd- 
ing into  or  minds  those  memorable  and  prophetic  words  of 
the  immortal  Lincoln : 

"Yes,  we  may  all  congratulate  ourselves  that  this  cruel  war  is  near- 
ing  its  close.  It  has  cost  a  vast  amount  of  treasure  and  blood.  The  best 
blood  of  tjie  flower  of  American  youth  ;has  been  freely  offered  upon  our 
country's  altar  that  the  nation  might  live.  It  has  been  indeed  a  trying 
hour  for  the  republic ;  but  I  see  in  the  near  future  a  crisis  approaching 
that  unnerves  me  and  causes  me  to  tremble  for  the  safety  of  my 
country. 

"As  a  result  of  the  war  corporations  have  been  enthroned  and  an 
era  of  corruption  in  high  places  will  follow,  and  the  money  power  of  the 
country  will  endeavor  to  prolong  its  reign  by  working  upon  the  preju- 
dices of  the  people  until  all  wealth  is  aggregated  in  a  few  hands,  and 
the  republic  is  destroyed.  I  feel  at  this  moment  more  anxiety  for  the 
safety  of  my  country  than  ever  before,  even  in  the  midst  of  war.  God 
grant  that  my  suspicions  may  prove  groundless." — Nov.  21,  1864,  Wm.  F. 
Elkin— Shibley,  p.  282. 


GOVERNMENTAL  ALIGNMENT  WITH  WEALTH  179 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  that  corporations  had  been  enthroned. 
Have  they  since  been  dethroned?  If  not  they  must  be  reigning 
still.  And  who  does  not  know  that  this  is  the  case?  .  But 
they  have  run  up  against  a  snag  at  last.  President  Roose- 
velt is  reported  to  have  recently  delivered  himself  of  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"Harriman  and  Rockefeller  are  backing  Hearst,  and  I  want  to  put 
Hearst,  Debs,  Hay  wood,  Moyer  and  Harriman  in  the  same  class  as 
anarchists  and  undesirable  citizens.  The  fight  is  against  me  and  my 
politics.  It  is  on  in  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  other  states." 

This  means,  of  course,  will  have  to  mean  that  Mr.  Roose- 
velt will  have  to  give  in  and  submit  to  a  third  term.  That 
will  be  absolutely  necessary,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  con- 
duct the  fight  to  a  finish.  It  will  be  a  battle  royal,  no  doubt. 

To  be  candid,  I  was  once  an  admirer  of  Mr.  Roosevelt ;  not 
-however,  so  ardent  an  admirer  as  some,  for  I  had  a  lurking 
suspicion  that  he  might  possibly  be  just  playing  politics.  And 
even  with  that  idea  in  view  I  could  hardly  help  admiring  him 
still,  for  I  thought  that  if  it  was  but  a  play  he  certainly  played 
well.  For  a  long  time  during  this  period  of  doubting  I  had 
some  hope  that  he  would  prove  to  be  a  really  progressive  man, 
as  progressive  as  the  people  are  ready  for,  and  that  he  would 
exert  an  influence  to  lead  them  in  the  right  direction.  In  the 
midst  of  these  doubts  his  course  has  been  a  source  of  great 
encouragement  to  me,  for,  with  the  thought  that  he  was  simply 
playing,  I  was  glad  that  it  was  necessary  to  play  that  way.  I 
have  long  since  learned  to  regard  the  sayings  and  doings  of  the 
politicians  as  an  index,  not  so  much  of  what  they  are  thinking, 
as  of  what  the  people  are  thinking;  and  being  generally  too 
busy  to  keep  very  well  posted  on  the  trend  of  popular  senti- 
ment I  watch  the  great  politicians  pretty  closely.  I  use  them 
for  a  political  barometer  or  weathercock,  and  so  when  I  see 
the  politicians  sneezing,  I  know  that  the  people  are  taking  snuff. 
Well,  as  time  went  on  and  the  sneezing  gradually  became  more 
strenuous,  my  doubts  gradually  changed  to -a  firm  conviction 
that  it  was  simply  a  play,  that  finally  developed  into  a  veritable 
monkey  show  that  was  really  amnsing. 

But  now,  it  has  lost  even  the  respectability  of  a  monkey 
show.  The  "tricks"  are  no  longer  even  "cute."  The  fact  is, 
the  performance  has  become  so  coarse  and  vulgar  that  it  is 
emphatically  disgusting.  Knowing  to  what  extent  President 
Roosevelt  stands  in  the  minds  of  the  American  people  for  a 
"square  deal,"  I  feel  almost  as  if  I  ought  to  apologize  for  express- 
ing myself  so,  especially  as  this  is  not  absolutely  vital  to  our 
main  subject,  Socialism  ;  but  it  is  important,  as  we  shall  en- 
deavor to  show  presently. 

Although  a  Socialist,  I  was  inclined  to  regard  Mr.  Roose- 


i8o  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

velt  as  about  the  right  kind  of  a  man  to  steer  the  ship  of  state 
through  the  shoals  of  the  latter  end  of  capitalism  even  though 
he  might  be  playing  politics  just  a  little ;  but  lately,  since  he 
has  become  so  blatant,  seems  to  be  presuming  so  much  upon  the 
ignorance  and  credulity  of  the  people,  and  is  now  seeking  to 
stir,  up  strife  and  animosity  where  there  ought  to  be  peace  and 
good  will,  my  disgust  has  deepened  into  indignation. 

That  the  President's  fight  against  the  millionaires  is  mostly 
sham  as  shown  by  the  way  his  right  bower,  Secretary  Cortelyou, 
turned  over  $71,000,000  the  other  day  to  the  national  banks  in 
order  to  help  Standard  Oil  out  of  a  seventy  million  dollar  gamb- 
ling scrape;  (space  forbids  its  discussion  here,  but  this  matter 
ought  to  be  investigated  by  every  man  in  the  nation ;)  and  that 
whatever  of  his  contention  with  the  great  capitalists  is  not  sham, 
is  but  a  fight  over  the  spoils  stolen  from  labor,  the  farmers'" 
chickens,  is  evidenced  by  the  following  which  we  copy  from  the 
Chicago  Daily  Socialist: 

"At  the  Gridiron  Club  dinner  in  Washington  a  short  time  ago,  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  showed  his  teeth  and  pointing  his  finger  at  H.  H.  Rogers 
and  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  delivered  himself  of  this  gem : 

"  'If  you  gentlemen  are  not  willing  to  accept  the  action  of  the  con- 
servative class,  which  is  ready  to  afford  protection  alike  to  the  rich  and 
poor,  I  will  say  to  you  now  that  when  you  have  disposed  of  us  by  your 
machinations  you  will  find  yourselves  face  to  face  with  a  people  which 
believes  it  has  been  deprived  of  its  right  and  a  mob  which  does  not  have 
the  least  respect  for  riches.  You  can  take  your  choice.'  " 

Could  anything  be  plainer?  It  seems  to  me  that  the  curtain 
must  have  been  slipped  accidentally.  Here  is  a  plain  propo- 
sition, the  ultimatum  from  the  hawk  combination  to  the  eagle 
combination.  It  virtually  says:  "You  can  take  your  choice  be- 
tween widening  your  circle  and  letting  us  in,  or  be  turned 
over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Socialist  mob."  And,  in 
view  of  the  seventy-one  million  dollar  consideration  mentioned, 
it  now  looks  very  strongly  as  if  the  hawks,  by  this  shrewd 
diplomacy  had  forced  a  compromise  and  have  at  last  been 
admitted  to  the  inner  circle  where  -hawks  and  eagles  alike  all 
sit  together  around  a  common  table.  It  will  of  course  be  neces- 
sary to  keep  the  curtain  closely  drawn  except  while  the  tourna- 
ment is  in  progress.  And  this  will  be  something  grand.  The 
exciting  part  about  it  is  that  the  people  will  be  made  to  think 
that  it  is  a  real  fight,  and  many  an  exultant  cheer  will  be  sent  up 
for  the  "plumed  knight." 

To  show  that  it  is  not  the  so-called  Debs-Moyer-Haywood 
anarchism,  nor  the  "mob  that  has  no  respect  for  riches,"  but 
an  organized  body  that  "believes  it  has  been  deprived  of  its 
rights,"  "the  real  thing,"  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth,  the 
Social  Democracy  that  he  fears,  we  quote  here  a  portion  of  a 


GOVERNMENTAL  ALIGNMENT  WITH  WEALTH  181 

letter  written  by  Jackson  Tinker,  a  New  York  newspaper  man, 
as  published  in  the  Appeal  to  Reason : 

"Then  he  summoned  some  of  the  railroad  presidents  again  and 
told  them  frankly  that  he  was  convinced  they  were  standing  in  the  way 
of  their  own  best  interests  by  not  being  willing  to  accept  moderate  regu- 
lation of  railroads  by  Federal  authority.  'Gentlemen/  he  said,  'you  are 
only  inviting  still  more  radical  action— government  ownership.'  One  of 
his  visitors  was  shocked  when  the  President,  turning  upon  him  in  his 
abrupt  manner,  exclaimed :  'The  Republican  Party  will  not  go  up  against 
any  more  "stuffed  clubs"  in  a  good  while.  The  Democratic  Party  will  not 
try  that  game  again  in  this  generation.' 

"'What  then?'  gasped  his  visitor. 

"  'Social  democracy,'  came  the  astonishing  rejoinder.  'That  will  be 
the  next  move  unless  we  Republicans,  with  full  power  in  the  executive  and 
legislative  departments  of  the  government,  satisfy  the  people  and  reform, 
existing  conditions.  If  we  don't  do  this  we  shall  be  overwhelmed.'  " 

Here  is  your  "staunch,"  "bold,"  "fearless/'  "true,"  "im- 
partial," "square  deal"  man.  Dear  reader:  Is  this  the  kind  of. 
square  deal  you  want?  Simply  to  give  the  people  the  least  pos- 
sible that  will  satisfy  them  and  tell  them  how  much  better  off 
they  are  than  when  they  were  starving?  Do  you  want  to  depend 
on  leaders  who  have  no  sympathy,  nothing  in  common  with  you, 
no  interest,  in  fact,  but  self  interest,  and  no  fear  but  the  fear 
of  being  "overwhelmed?"  Or  would  you  prefer  a  government 
where  the  administration  will  have  no  incentive  to  give  the 
people  less  than  their  rights,  whether  they  ask  for  them  or  not? 

Considering  all  these  things,  especially  the  brandishing  of 
the  "big  stick"  before  the  names  of  three  millionaires  linked 
with  those  of  three  workingmen,  and  all  branded  with  the 
opprobrious  name  "anarchist,"  it  becomes  evident  that  the  real 
fight  is  to  be  against  Socialism.  It  is  evident  that  instead  of 
a  "square  deal,"  the  President  is  determined  that  there  shall 
be  no  square  deal  for  labor.  This  is  evidenced  from  his  attitude 
toward  the  Moyer-Haywood  case. 

When  great  trials  are  pending  it  is  expected  of  all  court 
and  other  officials,  especially  those  high  in  authority,  that  they 
avoid  any  expression  that  would  tend  to  bias  public  sentiment. 
His  argument  that  the  other  side  do  this  has  nothing  in  it. 
They  have  a  right  to  object  to  kidnapping.  But  when  we  con- 
sider the  President's  general  attitude  toward  the  accused,  as 
illustrated  by  his  sending  Secretary  Taft  to  Idaho  to  preach 
"law  and  order"  and  by  his  bitter  denunciation  of  them  as  an- 
archists and  "undesirable  citizens,"  when  we  consider  this  it 
begins  to  read  to  us  that  he  is  taking  up  the  slogan  of  the  con- 
spirators, which,  in  an  evil  moment  of  elation  and  excitement 
found  expression  from  the  lips  of  Governor  Gooding:  "They 
shall  never  leave  Idaho  alive." 

We  insert  here  the  following  from  the  Spokesman-Review, 
a  Republican  paper  published  at  Spokane,  Washington: 


182  ANALYSIS    OF   SOCIALISM 

PITTSBURG,  Pa.,  May  8.— John  D.  Pringle,  editor  of  the  Labor 
World  of  Pittsburg,  to-night  received  the  following  letter  from  President 
Roosevelt  in  acknowledgment  of  an  editorial  recently  published  in  his 
paper  in  connection  with  the  Moyer-Haywood  controversy: 

"The  White  House,  Washington,  May  7,  1907. — My  Dear  Mr.  Prin- 

fle:  Nothing  that  has  been  spoken  or  written  that  I  have  seen  of  the 
loyer  and  Haywood  controversy  has  pleased  me  as  much  as  your  letter 
and  editorial.  In  my  letter  I  wished  to  drive  a  wedge  in  between  the 
honest,  law-abiding  man — with  whom  I  feel  much  hearty  sympathy — and 
those  foes  of  the  labor  movement  who  preach  anarchy  and  lawlessness, 
just  as  I  wish  to  see  a  wedge  driven  between  the  capitalist  who  is  an 
oppressor  or  swindler  and  the  capitalist  who  strives  to  do  right  by  all  his 
fellows — the  man  who  is  an  American  citizen  first  and  capitalist  second. 
Above  all,  I  want  to  express  my  absolute  agreement  with  your  final  para 
graph,  running  as  follows : 

"'The  Labor  World  has  not  a  word  to  utter  regarding  the  guilt  or 
innocence  of  Mover,  Haywood  and  Pettibone  in  their  present  terrible 
position.  We  hope  they  are  innocent  and  will  be  proved  to  be  so,  but 
what  we  want  to  point  out  is  that  their  innocence  of  the  preferred  chaige 
against  them  will  not,  in  our  estimation,  exonerate  them  from  the  charge 
of  preaching  an  industrial  and  social  policy  that  is  damning  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  wage  workers  of  the  country.' 

"With  all  good  wishes,  believe  me,   sincerely  yours, 

"THEODORE   ROOSEVELT." 

The  simple  fact  of  the  whole  matter  is,  that  the  President 
cares  very  little  for  this  Idaho  case,  nor  even  whether  'Gene 
Debs  is  an  anarchist  or  not,  but  the  main  point  that  this  so- 
called  "square  deal"  man  is  driving  at  is  to  prevent  Socialism 
getting  a  "square  deal."  He  well  knows  that  a  very  large 
part  of  the  people  are  favorably  minded  toward  Socialism.  He 
knows  that  there  are  many  of  these  who  are  Socialists -"of  a 
type,"  or  who  are  "in  sympathy  with  the  under  current  of 
Socialism,"  or  who  believe  that  "Socialism  will  come  gradually 
and  will  be  a  great  blessing  to  society."  He  knows  that  many 
of  these  have  been  deceived  by  the  capitalist  press  into  believ- 
ing that  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  are  little  more  than 
an  anarchistic  band  of  outlaws.  He  knows  that  many  have 
been  made  to  believe  that  the  present  Socialistic  movement  is 
decidedly  anarchistic,  that  it  has  "fallen  into  bad  hands,"  etc. 
He  knows  that  they  are  rapidly  being  undeceived,  and  that  if 
something  is  not  done,  and  done  quickly,  the  time  is  near  when 
all  the  "under  currents"  and  upper  currents,  the  "types"  and  the 
anti-types,  the  Christian  Socialists  and  the  anti-Christian  Social- 
ists, the  evolutionary  Socialists  and  the  revolutionary  Socialists, 
the  "let-us-have-Socialism-quick"  Socialists  and  the  "no-use-to- 
be-in-a-hurry"  Socialists,  when  all  these  elements  ^  will  be 
brought  together  in  one  grand  and  mighty  movement,  in  which 
the  watchword  will  be  FORWARD. 

And  there  is  another  thing  the  President  knows.  He  knows 
something  about  human  nature.  He  knows  that  there  is  no 
more  successful  method  of  upsetting  reason  than  by  stirring 
up  contention  and  strife,  and  arousing  combativeness.  And  so 


GOVERNMENTAL  ALIGNMENT  WITH  WEALTH  183 

he  seeks  to  stir  up  a  fight  with  what  are  called  radical  Social- 
ists that  he  may  bring  them  into  disrepute  as  anarchists,  and 
wean  away  from  them  otheis  of  Socialistic  proclivities. 

This  is  the  long  and  the  short  of  it.  It  is  a  wily  scheme 
of  capitalism  that  has  already  begun.  It  is  impossible  to  look 
into  the  future  and  say  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  what  will 
be,  but  there  is  certainly  good  reason  now  to  believe  this  scheme 
will  be  greatly  developed.  The  tactics  of  "Royal  Billy,"  in 
using  terrorizing  methods,  by  stirring  labor  union  and  Socialist 
leaders  to  words  of  resentment ;  and  then,  pointing  the  finger  and 
crying  "terrorist!"  have  already  begun  to  be  adopted  in  -this 
country. 

But  whatever  labor  troubles  there  may  be,  whether  much 
or  little,  if  Mr.  Roosevelt  can  be  by  any  means  "prevailed  on"  to 
accept  a  third  term,  we  may  look  for  another  terrible  four  years' 
war,  a  sanguinary  conflict  with  the  great  capitalists,  in  which 
the  fighting  will  be  nearly  all  done  with  the  "big  stick."  It 
will  probably  close  in  time  to  lay  plans  for  a  fourth  term. 

The  "big  stick"  by  reason  of  its  "terrific  momentum,  will 
probably  continue  its  revolutions  for  several  months  (possibly 
years;  it  cannot  now  be  estimated)  after  the  last  foe  has  van- 
ished from  sight,  and  then  all  will  be  hushed  and  still. 

And  amid  this  deathlike  stillness  there 'will  probably  issue  a 
new  prophecy  from  the  White  House:  Not  like  unto  that  old 
prophecy  of  fifty  years  before,  filled  with  pessimism,  with  gloom 
and  despondency,  but  the  new  prophecy  will  be  optimistic  and  cal- 
culated to  make  one  buoyant  with  hope.  It  will  probably  run 
something  like  this : 

"The  war  has  at  last  drawn  to  a  close.  It  has  been  indeed 
a  trying  hour  for  ME  and  the  Republic.  It  has  cost  a  vast 
amount  of  brain  and  muscle  and  splinters.  The  best  end  of  the 
"big  stick"  has  been  badly  battered.  The  best  portion  of  my 
brain  and  muscle  (especially  muscle)  have  been  freely  'offered 
upon  our  country's  altar  that  the  nation  might  live,  but  I  see 
in  the  near  future  a  picture  arising  that  nerves  me,  thrills  me, 
fills  me  with  ambitions  that  I've  felt  before. 

"As  a  result  of  the  war  corporations  have  been  dethroned 
and  an  era  of  purity  in  high  places  will  follow,  and  will  con- 
tinue as  long  as  there  is  no  interference  with  me  and  my  poli- 
tics. This  it  is  that  sets  me  dreaming,  'dreaming  dreams  I  never 
dared  to  dream  before.'  "  Quoth  the  Red  Raven,  "Nevermore  !" 

To  show  that  it  is.  the  real  thing,  Socialism  and  not 
"anarchy,"  "mob,"  "terrorism,"  "the  destruction  of  the  home," 
or  some  other  imaginary,  chimerical,  intangible,  bugaboo,  we 
insert  here  an  extract  from  an  article  of  March  16,  1907,  signed 
N.  J.  and  published  in  the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce  and 


1 84  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

Commercial  Bulletin,  a  plutocratic  sheet  of  the  highest  authority 
and  quoted  in  the  Appeal  to  Reason : 

In  recent  editorials  you  have  repeatedly  touched  upon  the  subject 
of  Socialism,  and  have  emphasized  the  dangers  that  threaten  our  com- 
monwealth from  the  alarming  spread  of  Socialistic  ideas.  The  fact 
remains  that  within  recent  years  those  tendencies  have  been  progressing 
to  a  dangerous  extent  in  the  chief  European  countries.  The  question 
arises  :  Should  we  wait  until  the  movement  has  attained  similar  propor- 
tions in  the  United  States,  or  guard  against  it  while  we  still  have  the 
power  to  do  so? 

I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  four  suggestions  given  below 
will  probably  afford  the  best  means  of  arresting  the  progress  of  these 
unhealthful  excrescences  on  our  social  organizations. 

That  Socialism,  aided  by  its  powerful  ally,  the  labor  unions,  should 
ever  become  strong  enough  to  overthrow  the  laws  relating  to  the  owner- 
ship of  property,  which  would  mean  a  change  in  our  constitution,  may 
seem  doubtful  from  present  aspects ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  impossible, 
if  we  consider  how  often  in  the  past  the  masses,  when  endowed  with  the 
power,  have  been  carried  away  to  commit  excesses,  and  if  we  consider 
further  that  the  masses  will  view  matters  of  this  nature  not  so  much 
from  the  standpoint  of  equity  as  from  that  of  personal  advantage,  espe- 
cially if  the  end  can  be  attained  through  such  a  seemingly  legitimate 
means  as  the  ballot  box.  To  guard  against  such  an  eventuality  we  should 
enact  preventive  laws  before  the  power  to  do  so  has  passed  out  of  our 
hands.  We  should  make  it  impossible  to  destroy  the  constitutional  safe- 
guards thrown  around  property  holders.  If  the  constitution  could  be  so 
amended  that  its  provisions  relating  to  the  rights  of  the  owner  to  his 
property  could  not  be  changed  except  by  the  vote  of  nine-tenths  of  all 
qualified  electors,  and  if  at  the  same  time  the  expropriation  laws  were 
well  defined  and  limited  to  the  taxing  power  placed  under  reasonable 
restriction,  we  should  feel  assured  that  we  were  reasonably  well  defended 
against  the  onslaughts  of  Socialism. 

A  preventive  measure,  therefore,  which  is  attainable  now  may  not 
be  so  a  few  years  hence. 

To  propose  such  a  radical  measure  as  an  amendment  to  the  consti- 
tution in  order  to  guard  against  the  aggressions  of  so  puny  a  foe  as 
Socialism  is  at  present,  may  seem  unwarranted  to  the  average  voter. 
Apparently,  however,  it  is  the  only  available  measure  within  our  reach. 
It  would  surely  be  effective,  considering  that  the  property-owning  element 
of  our  population,  notably  the  farmers,  will  at  all  times  represent  more 
than  ten  per  cent  of  the  country's  voting  strength.* 

Socialism  makes  for  peace.  One  of  its  most  beneficent 
effects  will  be  actual,  universal  peace.  The  ideals  of  Socialism 
are  especially  attractive  to  peace-loving  people ;  and  periods  of 
peace  are  best  adapted  to  the  propagation  of  Socialistic  doc- 
trines, but  the  enemy  is  too  cunning  to  permit  us  to  conduct 
our  Socialist  agitation  in  a  peaceable,  amicable  way.  It  is 
likely  to  be  a  continual  fight  from  now  on.  "Gentlemen  cry 
peace!  peace!  but  there  is  no  peace." 

*History  furnishes  a  very  dose  parallel  to  this.  In  A.  D.  302,  the  Roman  plu- 
tocracy was  confronted  by  a  very  similar  industrial  spectre  to  the  one  that  now  faces 
the  modern  plutocracy.  This  spectre  was  first  observed  by  one  Galerius,  who  ap- 
pealed to  the  Kmperors  to  take  time  by  the  forelock  and  provide  while  they  -could 
against  majority  rule.  He  had  a  program  that  was  clear  cut.  It  was  simply  to 
make  a  great  slaughter  and  kill  all  the  Christians.  Our  modern  Galerius  is  not  so 
practical.  The  first  part  of  his  program  might  he  carried  out.  Possihlv  the  people 
might  he  induced  to  tie  their  hands  with  the  constitutional  knot;  but  does  the  idiot 
really  think  there  will  ever  he  a  generation  so  tame  as  to  submit  to  a  constitution 
that  is  opprobrious  to  nine-tenths  of  them? 


MISCELLANEOUS  185 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

Selected  Miscellanies. 

Let  dead  hearts  tarry  and  trade  and  marry, 

And  trembling  nurse  their   dreams  of  mirth, 
While  we  the   living   our  lives  are  giving 
'  To  bring  the  bright  new  world  to  birth. 
Come  shoulder  to  shoulder  as  the  earth  grows  older! 

The  Cause  spreads  over  land  and  sea; 
Now  the  world  shaketh,  and  fear  awaketh, 
And  joy  at  last  for  thee  and  me. 

— William  Morris. 

Revolutions  are  not  destructive ;  they  are  necessary  to  preservation. 
Babes  and  birds  grow  to  a  certain  development  before  birth,  but  cannot 
live  forever  in  the  womb  and  in  the  egg.  Nations  can  attain  a  certain 
development  under  the  capitalist  system,  but  the  social  revolution  must 
bring  the  necessary  change  at  the  proper  time  or  the  nation  will  die. — 
Appeal  to  Reason. 

"CAPITALISM  AND  YOUR  DAUGHTER. 

"Dearest  Mother: — It  is  very  lonesome  here  and  I  almost  wish  my- 
self at  home  with  you.  The  small  salary  I  earn  each  week  does  not 
dress  me  as  well  as  I  would  like  to  dress;  and  I  can't  afford  to  buy 
the  things  I  need.  A  gentleman  came  to  where  I  was  working  the  other 
day  and  one  of  the  girls  introduced  me  to  him.  That  evening  we  took 
an  automobile  ride  and  later  took  dinner  at  a  cafe.  He  told  me  he 
was  wealthy  and  offered  to  loan  me  money  to  buy  new  clothes,  and 
he  says  he  wants  me  to  have  a  good  time  and  not  be  so  lonely.  Oh !  I 
am  so  unhappy.  What  shall  I  do  about  it? — Your  loving  daughter, 
Jennie." — Appeal  to  Reason. 

"MR    BRYAN  AND  IMMORAL  MONEY. 

"Unclean  Muney — In  Washington  the  other  ^evening  Mr.  Bryan 
commended  churches  and  educational  institutions  which  refuse  to  re- 
ceive money  dishonestly  obtained.  He  says : 

'One  of  our  rich  men  has  reached  a  point  where  he  sometimes 
finds  it  hard  to  get  people  to  take  his  money.  And  1  regard  this  as  the 
best  evidence  of  the  growth  of  a  moral  sentiment  in  this  country.  It 
means  something  when  a  great  church  hesitates  and  refuses  to  accept 
the  money  until  it  knows  how  it  was  made.  I  believe  the  time  will 
come  when  churches  and  colleges  will  refuse  to  go  into  partnership 
in  the  spending  of  money  immorally  made.  The  influence  of  the  church 
will  be  a  powerful  factor  in  restoring  righteousness.' 

"Clean  Money — But  the  difficulty  is  in  determining  what  is  immoral 
money.  Can  there  be  any  description  of  immoral  money  which  will 
cover  a  part  of  the  money  and  not  include  the  rest.  Ethics,  from  the 
workingmen's  standpoint,  insists  that  there  is  no  justice  in  an  exchange 


1 86  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

which  does  not  mean  an  equal  service  for  an  equal  service.  Ethics  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  business  world  insists  that  it  is  not  only  a  righteous 
thing  to  get  something  for  nothing,  but  if  one  gets  a  good  deal  of  some- 
thing for  a  very  little  of  nothing,  it  is  an  evidence  of  character  and 
of  divine  favor,  instead  of  an  evidence  of  wrong  doing.  The  difference 
between  honest  money  and  dishonest  money,  from  a  business  standpoint, 
if  such  a  distinction  is  to  be  drawn  at  all,  would  probably  be  that  one 
must  not  take  too  much  of  something  for  too  little  of  nothing ;  that  it 
is  both  inhuman  and  unprofitable  to  skin  the  lambs  as  well  as  take  their 
wool." — Saturday  Evening  Tribune,  Seattle,  Wash. 

GOV.  ALTGELD'S  OPTIMISM. 

(Peroration  of  a  speech  delivered  in  Chicago  by  John  P.  Altgeld 
in  1900.) 

But,  says  one,  is  there  any  use  in  our  making  an  effort?-  Are  not 
all  the  banks  of  this  country,  all  of  the  trusts  and  great  corporations 
of  this  country,  is  not  the  fashion  of  this  country,  are  not  the  drawing 
rooms  and  the  clubs  of  this  country  now  controlled  by  concentrated 
and  corrupt  wealth  ?  Are  they  not  growing  stronger  every  year,  and 
do  they  not  villify  and  attempt  to  corrupt  everybody  that  does  not 
submit?  Can  anything  be  accomplished  in  the  way  of  curbing  this  great 
force  and  protecting  the  American  people? 

My  friends,  let  me  cite  you  a  parallel.  George  W.  Curtis  and  other 
writers  of  his  day,  have  described  the  slave  power  back  in  the  'so's. 
They  tell  us  that  slavery  sat  in  the  White  House  and  made  laws  in  the 
capitol,  that  courts  of  justice  were  its  ministers,  that  senators  and 
legislators  were  its  lackeys;  that  it  controlled  the  professor  in  his 
lecture  room,  the  editor  in  his  sanctum,  the  preacher  in  his  pulpit,  that 
it  swaggered  in  the  drawing  room;  that  it  ruled  at  the  clubs;  that  it 
dominated  with  iron  hand  all  the  affairs  of  society;  that  every  year 
enlarged  its  power,  every  move  increased  its  dominion ;  that  the  men 
and  women  who  dared  even  to  question  the  divinity  of  that  institution 
were  ostracized,  were  persecuted,  were  villified — aye,  were  hanged.  • 

But  the  great  clock  in  the  chamber  of  the  Omnipotent  never  stands 
still.  It  ticked  away  the  years  as  it  had  once  ticked  away  the  centuries. 
Finally  it  struck  the  hour,  and  the  world  heard  the  tread  of  a  million 
armed  men,  and  slavery  vanished  from  America  forever.  Note  the 
parallel.  To-day  the  syndicate  rules  at  the  White  House  and  makes 
laws  in  the  capitol,  courts  of  justice  are  its  ministers,  senators  and 
legislators  are  its  lackeys.  It  controls  the  preacher  in  his  pulpit,  the 
professor  in  his  lecture  room,  the  editor  in  his  sanctum;  it  swaggers  in 
the  drawing  room,  it  rules  at  the  clubs,  it  dominates  with  a  rod  of  iron 
the  affairs  of  society.  Every  year  enlarges  its  power,  and  the  men  and 
women  who  protest  against  crimes  that  are  committed  by  organized 
greed  in  this  country — who  talk  of  protecting  the  American  people, 
are  ostracized,  are  villified,  are  hounded  and  imprisoned.  It  seems  mad- 
ness even  to  question  the  divinity  of  the  American  svndicate.  But  my 
friends,  the  great  clock  is  still  ticking — is  still  ticking.  Soon  it  will 
strike  the  hour,  and  the  world  will  see.  not  one  million,  but  ten  million 
free  men  rise  up  armed,  not  with  muskets,  but  with  freemen's  ballots, 
and  the  sway  of  the  syndicate  will  vanish  from  America  forever. 

Miscellaneous  Observations  of  the  Author. 

I.  Equality  Through  Capitalistic  Glasses.  Charles  J. 
Bonaparte,  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  is  reported 
to  have  delivered  a  lecture  on  "Socialism  and  Charity,"  in  Car- 
nagie  Hall,  New  York,  recently,  being  introduced  by  Arch- 


MISCELLANEOUS 

bishop  ^  Farley,    as    "the    first    Catholic    citizen    of    the    United 
States,"  and  to  have  said,  in  part: 

"As  I  have  said  on  another  occasion,  the  root  of  Socialism 
is  the  doctrine  that  all  men  are  of  right  and  ought  to  be, -and 
should  therefore  be  made  and  kept  precisely  equal." 

The  first  emotion  that  arises-  in  the  mind  of  the  Socialist 
on  reading  this  assertion  is  apt  to  be  that  of  indignation;  and, 
unless  he  has  learned  self-control  pretty  well,  the  first  impulse  will 
be  to  denounce  it  as  a  palpable  falsehood;  and  next  he  will 
feel  very  much  ashamed  of  himself  when  he  comes  to  con- 
sider the  matter  and  sees  that  the  man  is  simply  mistaken;  and 
that  the  mistake  is  perfectly  natural  for  anyone  to  make  who 
looks  through  capitalistic  glasses.  Under  capitalism,  wealth  is 
everything ;  it  has  become  the  god,  the  all  in  all. 

Under  capitalism  wealth  is  the  only  thing  that  is  sub- 
stantial. .  True,  there  is  one  other  thing  that  has  been  much 
talked  of,  but  it  is  a  mere  nothing ;  or  at  least  it  is  not  a  sub- 
stance, unless  Wilford  Hall's  theory  of  the  substantial  nature 
of  sound  be  the  true  one.  I  refer  to  what  we  call  "rights," 
personal  rights,"  "Equal  and  inalienable  rights."  Under  capi- 
talism, these  all  consist  of  pure  sound  and  nothing  else. 

For  a  hundred  years  "equality"  has  been  flaunted  to  the 
breeze  and  greeted  with  cheers.  That  was  all  right  so  long  as 
it  remained  in  the  air ;  but  now,  since  it  has  been  proposed  to 
bring  it  into  contact  with  things  mundane  it  has  suddenly  become 
a  thing  to  be  loathed  and  execrated.  Now,  the  only  place  for 
equality  is  in  the  air.  Capitalism  is  now  sorry,  no  doubt,  that 
it  was  ever  admitted,  even  there ;  and  if  the  present  so-called 
danger  had  been  foreseen,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  steps  would 
have  been  taken  to  cut  it  out  of  the  air.  So  much  of  it,  how- 
ever, has  accumulated  in  the  air,  that  it  is  now  too  late  to 
cut  it  out.  It  is  rapidly  pressing  down  to  the  earth  in  spite 
of  all  the  thunders  of  capitalism  against  it. 

Capitalism  knows  no  distinction  among  people  except  that 
of  wealth.  If  there  should  come  along  seven  men,  all  possess- 
ing exactly  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  property,  one  a  plain, 
uneducated  farmer  of  the  old  style,  with  a  million  dollars'  worth 
of  land  and  stock  and  wheat ;  another  a  great  and  learned 
preacher  with  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  bibles ;  another  a  great 
college  president  with  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  Standard  Oil 
stocks ;  another  a  great  merchant  with  a  million  dollars  invested 
in  merchandise ;  another  a  "red  light"  keeper  with  a  million 
dollars  invested  in  houses  of  ill  fame ;  another  a  great  distiller 
with  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  whiskey;  and  another  a  blind 
idiot  with  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  jewsharps,  if  these  should 
all  come  walking  down  the  street  side  by  side  capitalism  would 


1 88  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

swear,  with  its  hand  on  the  whole  stack  of  the  preacher's  bibles, 
that  these  seven  men  are  all  alike,  just  like  seven  peas. 

2.  The   Red   Flag.     It   is   interesting  to   contemplate   the 
impression  that  many  people  have  of  the  red  flag,  the  peculiar 
effect  it  has  upon  some  and  the  treatment  it  receives  from  them. 

It  is  also  curiously  interesting  to  note  the  successive  emo- 
tions that  fill  our  own  minds  during  such  contemplation.  Mirth, 
pity  and  disgust  are  all  jumbled  together  as  we  see  the  capi- 
talists enraged,  storming  and  bellowing  like  a  mad  bull  at  the 
sight  of  a  red  rag.  This  is  likely  to  be  succeeded  by  more 
indignation  and  resentment  than  is  best  for  us  when  we  behold 
the  ruthless,  forcible  suppression  of  labor's  chosen  peaceful 
emblem  by  the  police  and  military,  as  though  it  were  the  most 
dangerous  thing,  imaginable.  Finally,  we  are,  or  should  be, 
filled  with  charity  for  the  masses  who  are  deceived  by  the  capi- 
talist press  into  believing  that  the  red  flag  means  fight,  blood- 
shed, violence,  anarchy,  devastation  and  destruction ;"  who  do 
not  know  that  it  has  been  the  emblem  of  labor  from  time  im- 
memorial, and  that  the  significance  of  the  color  is  international 
and  therefore  peaceful,  suggesting  that  all  nations  should  be 
united  in  one  brotherhood,  since  the  blood  of  all  is  alike,  all 
red. 

3.  Mother's  Wish.     As  an  illustration  of  the  ruthlessness 
of  capitalism  a  little  while  ago  I  read  what  was  given  out  as  an 
argument    against    Socialism,    in    which    the    writer    evidently 
thought  he  was  making  a  great  hit  by  saying  that  under  Social- 
ism the  most  valuable  property  would  consist  of  old  plate,  family 
pictures,  etc. 

About  the  same  time  the  unfeeling  and  cold-hearted  ruth- 
lessness of  this  species  of  argument  was  pressed  home  to  me  in 
a  personal  incident.  While  engaged  in  conversation  with  an 
old  woman  of  four  score,  she  said,  "Frank,  I  wish  we  had  the 
pictures  of  the  three  little  ones  that  died."  And  I  said,  "Yes, 
Mother,  and  after  a  while  it  will  be  so  that  people  may  not  only 
see  the  pictures  of  their  loved  ones  but  may  also  hear  their 
voices." 

But  capitalism  laughs  at  our  dear  mother's  fond  memory  of 
fifty  years  and  more.  "What.!  No  profits  in  that!"  Capitalism 
does  not  hesitate  to  outrage  all  the  tender  and  sympathetic  ties 
which  people  hold  so  dear  and  sacred.  From  its  point  of  view 
it  is  of  but  little  consequence  if  in  the  past  most  people  could 
not  afford,  or  could  little  afford  to  give  attention  to  these  things ; 
but  Socialism,  on  the  contrary,  will  make  the  most  ample  pro- 
vision for  them.  Under  Socialism  it  need  no  longer  be  that  all 
the  sacred  tenderness  of  human  nature,  all  those  refined  im- 
pulses of  the  human  breast,  all  that  tends  most  to  bring  heaven 
to  earth,  must  be  choked  out. 


MISCELLANEOUS  18* 

4.  Around  the  Square.  The  tactics  of  the  opposition  to 
Socialism  is  the  most  cowardly  that  could  be  imagined.  It  is  a 
continually  running  fight.  It  is  substantially  something  like 
this :  A  modern  capitalistic  stump  orator  mounts  a  box  on  the 
corner  of  a  great  public  square  and,  beginning  with  the  assertion 
that '  we  have  the  best  government  in  the  world,  expatiates 
verbosely  and  grandiloquently  upon  the  glories  of  our  present 
society,  saying,  among  other  things,  that  if  one  isn't  happy  it 
is  his  own  fault,  he  is  lazy,  etc.,  etc. 

Hearing  this  a  doughty  Socialist  elbows  his  way  through 
the  crowd,  mounts  another  box  near  by  and  does  capitalism  to 
a  finish. 

When  he  is  through  the  first  orator,  having  fled  at  the 
first  charge,  now  starts  up  on  the  next  corner,  but  with  a  changed 
attitude.  He  now  admits  that  capitalism  is  not  what  it  ought 
to  be :  In  fact  he  admits  all  the  Socialist  said  concerning  the 
rottenness  of  capitalism.  He  admits  the  necessity  of  reform 
and  says  that  something  must  be  done  and  that  quickly,  or  we 
are  liable  to  go  to  the  dogs ;  and  then  drawing  himself  up  to  his 
full  height  and  stretching  forth  his  hand  to  suit  the  word,  he 
warns  his  hearers  to  "look  out  for  the  Socialist!  Socialism  is 
dishonest !  Socialism  is  robbery  !  Socialism  is  anarchism !" 

Immediately  our  faithful  Socialist  works  his  way  to  this 
corner,  and  mounting  the  box  from  which  the  first  orator  has 
just  retreated,  now  proceeds  in  a  defense  of  Socialism  and 
completely  demolishes  the  position  of  his  antagonist  who  is  now 
heard  on  the  next  corner  saying  that  Socialism  is  all  right  in 
principle  and  would  be  a  grand  thing  if  we  could  only  make  it 
work ;  but  that  it  can  never  be  made  to  work ;  that  it  is  too 
big  a  thing;  is  utterly  impracticable. 

Then  he  flees  as  our  plodding  Socialist  appears  and  shows 
up  the  impracticability  of  capitalism  and  the  practicability  of 
Socialism  in  so  glowing  a  light  that  the  air  is  rent  with  cheer  after 
cheer  as  he  proceeds  to  the  next  corner  where  his  opponent  is 
telling  the  people  that  Socialism  is  bound  to  come  and  will  be 
a  great  blessing  to  the  human  race,  but  that  they  must  be  patient, 
for  that  it  will  take  time  to  bring  about  so  great  a  change,  and 
charging  them  to  be  sure  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
present  Socialist  Party ;  that  it  is  in  bad  hands,  being  made  up 
for  the  most  part  of  laborites  who  are  practically  all  anarchists. 

This  last  as  he  flees  on  the  approach  of  the  Socialist,  who 
now  proceeds  in  a  telling  manner  to  defend  labor  from  all  the 
aspersions  that  have  been  hurled  against  it.  He  closes :  and, 
as  he  mops  the  perspiration  from  his  face,  there  rings  out  from 
the  first  corner  through  the  stillness  of  the  night  this  same  voice, 
saying,  "Labor  is  all  right.  The  Unions  are  all  right.  The  only 
trouble  is  that  unionism  is  becoming  ensnared  by,  and  entangled 


190  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

with,  the  wicked  and  criminal  doctrines  of  Socialism.     Socialism 
is  dishonest !     Socialism  is  robbery !     Socialism  is  anarchy  !" 

Then  the  Socialist  looks  plagued.  He  says,  "It  makes  me 
tired.  I  don't  see  any  use  following  that  idiot  any  further." 

5.  The  Test  of  a  True  Socialist.     Many  politicians  there 
be  who  will  shed  great  crocodile  tears  and  put  up  a  great  wail, 
saying  that  "something  must  be  done  to  relieve  the  miseries  of 
the  oppressed ;"  and  that   we  are  going  to  have  "Socialism  or 
something  like   it."     Heed  them   not;  they  are  hypocrites  and 
seek  to  deceive  you. 

And  there  are  many  rich  who  have  genuine  sympathy  for 
the  poor,  (genuine  as  far  as  it  goes)  who  would  like  to  see  the 
poor  made  comfortable,  but  stumble  at  the  word  equality,  and 
go  away  sorrowful,  for  they  have  great  possessions. 

But  he  who  would  be  a  true  Socialist  must  be  ready  to  cast 
all  that  he  has  in  the  Socialistic  jack  pot  and  take  share  and 
share  alike  with  other  people. 

6.  How   to    Destroy   Socialism.     I   have   heard   or    read 
something,  somewhere,  sometime,  I  do  not  now  recall  just  what 
nor  where  nor  when,  that  suggests  this  thought : 

Satan  collects  about  him  a  number  of  his  most  trusted  fol- 
lowers and  discourses  to  them  as  follows :  "My  most  loyal 
subjects ;  I  have  called  you  together  in  order  to  consult  with  you 
about  a  matter  of  the  most  stupendous  importance  to  you  as  well 
as  to  me,  one  in  which  the  very  foundations  of  this  great  king- 
dom are  seriously  threatened. 

Behold  a  new  enemy  has  come  down  from  heaven.  Have 
you  not  observed  the  spread  of  Socialism  all  over  the  whole  face 
of  the  earth  ?  A  mere  spark  at  first,  it  has  become  a  great  flame. 
Already  its  adherents  number  their  hosts  by  millions,  and  unless 
something  is  done  to  stay  its  progress  it  must  soon  sweep  the 
earth. 

And  do  you  know  what  this  means?  Ah,  my  dear  demons, 
it  is  not  alone  for  myself  that  I  am  concerned,  but  when  I  look 
upon  you  I  am  deeply  moved  for  your  sakes.  My  heart  is  filled 
with  sorrow  and  sadness  when  I  reflect  that  if  this  great  enemy 
is  not  checked,  the  time  must  soon  come  when,  as  we  stalk  about 
amid  the  nocturnal  shades  and  in  the  dark  places  of  earth,  you 
shall  no  more  be  permitted  the  inestimable  pleasure  of  beholding 
the  innumerable  scenes  of  poverty,  squalor,  misery  and  degrada- 
tion which  now  furnish  you  such  intense  satisfaction  ;  no  more 
shall  mingle  in  the  rapturous  orgies  of  the  intoxicating  bowl, 
and  no  more  dance  with  demoniacal  delight  on  the  gory  field, 
wallowing  in  the  blood  of  its  mangled  victims,  mocking  the 
groans  of  the  dying  and  laughing  hysterically  at  the  indescrib- 
able scenes  of  carnage  and  ruin/ 

Upon  this  there  was  a  confused  clamor  mingled  with  many 


MISCELLANEOUS  191 

hisses  and  a  great  wail  which  ceased  instantly  at  a  signal  from 
the  throne,  when  his  majesty  again  spoke  in  measured  tones 
which  indicated  somewhat  of  reproof,  saying: 

"It  has  never  been  any  part  of  the  policy  of  this  kingdom 
to  give  up  in  despair  until  every  device  of  devilish  ingenuity 
has  been  resorted  to.  I  confess  that  I  have  been  put  to  my 
wit's  end  in  trying  to  determine  what  is  the  best  to  do  in  the 
present  case  and  I  have  called  you  together  because  I  realize 
that  in  the  multitude  of  counsel  there  is  wisdom,  and  because 
I  remember  what  effective  service  some  of  you  have  rendered 
in  the  past  by  your  discreet  advice.  And  now  let  us  put  away 
all  excitement,  all  haste,  and  let  us  call  our  wits  about  us  and, 
after  careful  consideration,  let  each  one  who  has  somewhat  to 
offer  rise  and  speak." 

After  a  short  pause  a  monstrous,  ill-looking  old  fiend  arose, 
and  with  a  sinister  grin  on  his  savage  and  wrinkled  counte- 
nance said,  "Send  me.  I  will  go  out  among  men  and  enlist  every 
opponent  of  Socialism  in  a  great  army  that  shall  encompass  the 
earth ;  and  I  will  make  a  great  slaughter  over  all  the  face  of 
the  earth,  which  shall  not  cease  so  long  as  there  is  a  single 
Socialist  left  alive." 

And  then,  with  murderous  and  vindictive  frown  upon  his 
face  he  resumed  his  seat.  Whereupon  there  was  a  great  shout, 
which,  when  it  had  subsided,  was  succeeded  by  the  following 
from  the  throne : 

"My  most  valiant  and  renowned  fiend :  I  cannot  but  be 
filled  with  admiration  at  thy  old  time,  wonted,  vindictive  deter- 
mination. It  is  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  that  I  recall  thy 
valiant  service  during  the  centuries  past ;  how  thou  didst  stir 
up  men  to  butcher  and  destroy  each  other;  but  alas!  those 
palmy  days  are  gone,  gone  never  more  to  return,  I  fear.  Gladly 
woulil  I  adopt  the  plan  thou  dost  propose,  but  it  will  no  longer 
work.  Sad  as  it  is  to  us,  we  cannot  evade  the  conclusion  that 
a  change  has  come  about  among  the  people  of  earth.  With  all 
their  selfishness  and  other  faults  by  which  we  reap  so  great  satis- 
faction, there  is  now  more  of  sympathy  and  less  of  fierceness. 
Men  are  not  so  bloodthirsty  as  in  those  grand  old  days  of 
yore.  If  thou  shouldst  essay  to  do  as  thou  hast  said,  before  one- 
thousandth  part  were  slain  public  sympathy  would  turn  the  tide ; 
the  number  of  our  enemies  would  be  greatly  multiplied  and  our 
cause  would  be  lost.  The  plan  thou  dost  propose  was  all  right 
in  its  day,  but  times  have  changed.  We  must  now  seek  a  plan 
that  is  more  up  to  date." 

To  this  there  was  a  general  assent,  in  which,  however,  a 
considerable  degree  of  dejection  was  apparent.  After  a  little 
pause  another  fiend  arose  and  spoke  as  follows : 

"I  would  go  among  the  men  of  earth  and  by  eloquence  and 


192  ANALYSIS    OF    SOCIALISM 

specious  argument  would  seek  to  stay  the  onward  sweep  of 
Socialism.  I  would  exhaust  all  the  arts  of  oratory  and  sophistry 
to  convince  them  that  Socialism  is  impracticable  and  that  if  it 
could  be  made  successful  it  would  be  but  a  scheme  of  whole- 
sale robbery." 

And  then  warming  up  with  his  subject,  his  countenance 
beaming  with  intelligence  and  an  appearance  of  honesty  and 
candor,  he  launched  into  a  tirade  of  eloquence  which  fairly  shook 
the  walls.  And  again  there  was  a  great  shout  and  long  continued 
cheering. 

When  this  had  subsided  his  majesty  spoke  as  follows: 
"There  was  a  time  when  the  methods  thou  proposest  were 
very  successful  in  the  grand  work  of  deceiving  men,  but  Social- 
ism has  already  been  sowing  the  seeds  of  truth,  and  the  light 
that  is  springing  up  is  more  than  we  are  able  to  cope  with.  We 
must  look  for  some  other  plan." 

After  a  long  while  a  little  fiend  arose  and  said: 
"I  would  go  and  sow  the  seeds  of  discord,  I  would  tell  those 
Christians  who  are  favorable  to  Socialism  that  the  present 
Socialist  Party  is  made  up  of  atheists,  infidels,  anarchists  and, 
in  fact,  the  riff-raff  of  society :  and  I  would  stir  up  the  spirit  oi 
proscription*  till  half  the  members  were  read  out  of  the  party." 
At  this  his  majesty  arose  and,  stretching  forth  his  sceptre, 
said :  "Go,  my  little  fiend,  go !  Go  out  upon  the  earth,  and  my 
most  Beelzebubic  blessings  go  with  thee !  If  thou  art  success- 
ful, as  I  hope  thou  mayst  be,  my  kingdom  may  endure  for  a 
thousand  years  to  come/' 


»lOOm-12,' 48  (8796s) 


YB  07799 


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